Lost Ground
by R. Seldon
Summary: AU. A sullen, depressive mage; an awkward young swordswoman-in-training; a trouble-loving demon boy: Not the finest of heroes, perhaps... but if the stakes are high enough, they'll learn. Or not. Won Best AU, MediaMiner's 2008 Maximum Challenge.
1. Zero: A Single Step

Disclaimer: .hack and its wonderful characters belong to Bandai and CyberConnect 2, and are used here without permission.

* * *

Lost Ground

Zero: _A Single Step_

_

* * *

__Three years ago_

* * *

It was raining the day Mimiru arrived in Mac Anu for the first time, and the weather did nothing to brighten the young girl's spirits. Her family had sent her to attend one of the city's many boarding schools; she was not at all happy about this, but arguing had gotten her nowhere. 

_Now, Mimiru, don't be childish._

Childish! Her chin jutted out indignantly at the memory. She wasn't being _childish_, that was just the point; she wanted to travel on the trading routes with her father and her brother, and be just as grown-up as they were, and what was so _childish _about that? She could be every bit as much help as her older brother could, of that much she was sure, but just because he was a few years her senior _he _was allowed to travel, and _she _was going to be stuck in some stupid classroom for years and years. It wasn't _fair._

And so she was in no mood to appreciate that she was, at least, visiting a city she had never seen before, and a beautiful one at that, if currently somewhat damp. Even in the chill grey weather, there was an austere elegance to the stone buildings, worlds apart from the huts and tents which sprawled over Dun Loireag's hills and islands. But the walls surrounding the school grounds were a far cry from Gate travel and open roads, and as far as she was concerned, that was all that mattered at present.

Wandering towards the dormitory halls, she stared moodily up at the cloudy sky, and as a result nearly collided with another student walking in the opposite direction. Only at the last minute did she happen to glance down; letting out a startled yelp, she screeched to a halt just in time, took an involuntary step backwards, promptly stumbled on a loose rock, and fell over.

This display of astounding grace was met with a short, scornful laugh. "Oi. Watch where you're going, next time."

Mimiru scrambled to her feet, her face bright red. "Jeez. It was an _accident _-- not like you were paying any attention either. You practically ran into me, too."

To this the other girl said nothing, but merely shrugged, rolled her eyes and continued on her way.

"Hey!" Mimiru started after her, her voice rising. "That's not very polite, you know. Least you could do is say sorry." But the other girl did not even look back, and Mimiru trailed to a halt after a few steps. It wasn't that important, after all, even if it hadn't helped her mood much. Some people were rude. Such was life.

Still, she thought she would try to avoid the girl in the future. At least she would be easy to remember; despite the fact that she could not have been much older than Mimiru -- maybe thirteen at most -- her short-cropped hair had been a uniform shade of silver-grey.

Shaking her head, Mimiru continued on to her dormitory.

* * *

Across the city, a young woman with blue-green hair stood in the arched entryway to the keep of the Crimson Knights of Mac Anu, taking shelter from the rain. 

"You're really leaving, then," she said quietly.

The words were addressed to a tall, athletic-looking man, still youthful but several years her elder -- perhaps in his mid twenties, to her mid-to-late teens. He smiled ruefully and inclined his head. "Should've known I couldn't slip past you, Lady."

"You would have left without saying goodbye?"

He grimaced guiltily. "Now, it's not really _goodbye, _is it?" he asked. "It's not like I won't be passing through town now and again, you know. I'll stop in and say hello, we'll pack food and take a day or two to go wandering outside the city, just the two of us, just like old times. And if you ever need me--"

Anyone who did not know the girl well might have completely missed the hurt, angry edge that underscored her soft tone. "I _do _need you. I can't keep all this up by myself."

He shook his head. "You're stronger than you know, Lady," he told her firmly. "You'll be fine. And you won't be alone, you've got a lot of good people in the Knights."

What he did _not _add was: _And I don't agree with any of them. But you're the ruler of this city, not I -- as you yourself have gotten very quick to point out, recently. It's time you started sorting things out for yourself. You've had me staring over your shoulder for long enough. _

She was silent for a moment, and then said, with what was for her unusual force, "But I don't _want _you to leave."

His smile grew sorrowful, and he said gently, "The World won't halt in its tracks because you will it, milady."

Her breath caught in her throat, and she stiffened as if struck. "I--"

"Lady," he cut her off, gently chiding, "I told you a long time ago that I wouldn't stay forever. I'm a wanderer. I never even meant to stay this long. But my leaving," he reached out, tilted her chin up so that she looked into his face, "is _no _reflection on you." He paused, and added, "Actually, that's not exactly true. I wouldn't be going if I didn't know you could survive without me. You'll be all right, milady. You don't need my help anymore." _I hope._

She stepped back, shaking his hand off. "Was that the only reason you ever stayed? Because I needed _help?_"

The man opened his mouth, shut it again, hesitated as his thoughts ran down several different paths which that conversation could take, and then said only, "That wasn't what I meant at all."

"No?" She shook her head. There was a long pause, in which the only sound was that of falling rain, and then she said, coldly, "Goodbye, Crim."

He watched her walk through the rainy courtyard, back to the keep, and it was not until she was out of sight that he murmured under his breath, "Goodbye, Subaru. Be well."

And then he turned and walked away.

* * *

Tsukasa felt nearly invisible as she wandered down the busy central street of Mac Anu, towards the Gate. Earlier in the day she would probably have been stopped by half a dozen city guards by now, all of them wanting to know if she had permission to be out of school -- the Crimson Knights saw it as one of their sworn duties to keep the streets clear of inconvenient young people, young people being notorious troublemakers, every one, in the Knights' minds. But even they stopped short of locking all persons sixteen and under in their classrooms or homes twenty-four hours a day (possibly the young Lady Subaru, barely seventeen years old now, and technically the ruler of the city, had put her foot down about this), and so there were about six hours, from the end of the school day to the evening curfew, when one could walk the streets without being stopped On Suspicion of Being Thirteen Years Old. 

Tsukasa rarely bothered with it, in any case. She boarded at her school, and upon becoming a mage-apprentice had been given her own room. It was a very small room, granted, but it was _hers_, which meant that she could bolt the door and shut out the entire world if she liked. Which she did.

Or which she had done, at least. Not today. Not ever again.

She was tired of it. Tired of unfriendly looks and whispers behind her back. Tired of too many teachers who didn't bother to hide their satisfaction when their asocial, unlikable, too-intelligent student made mistakes. Tired of never knowing quite what she ought to say or do, to manage this strange and miraculous _fitting in_ which seemed to come naturally to everybody else.

So tired. Of just about everything, really. And tired of hiding from it all. And tired, above all, of _being _tired.

She was drawing near the Chaos Gate, now. There was a crowd around it, even in today's cold, grey rain. People going, people coming, people waiting eagerly to greet old friends or returning family, people trying to sell things to them all. A few guards were given the thankless task of trying to keep the crowd in some semblance of order, check that those coming and going had the proper paperwork (the Crimson Knights were very keen on paperwork), and generally keep an eye out for anyone or anything suspicious, such as hordes of marauding goblins, popping out of the Gate. Marauding goblins were unlikely, granted, but you never knew.

It was strange, surreal, almost dreamlike. So easy to blend in with the crowd. So easy to watch and wait until some momentary confusion distracted the guards on duty. So easy, to slip straight past them, on the heels of a legitimate party of travelers.

Gate travel was a tricky and potentially dangerous business. The indescribable 'pathways' connecting the various pockets of stability which were scattered through the eternal Chaos were not actually difficult to follow, once you knew how. All it took, though, was one step wrong to be lost forever. And so, there were the Navigators: those who had studied the pathways, and practiced traveling them for years, and made their living guiding others. In Mac Anu, and indeed in most places, it was illegal to travel without one.

Tsukasa's mother had been a Navigator, quite a good one. And still -- all it had taken was one step.

So easy, to walk up to the Gate unnoticed...

Tsukasa herself had learned something of the craft when she was younger. Her mother had taught her, in the hopes her daughter might follow in her footsteps. After losing her, Tsukasa had given up those studies, but now, it seemed, she was going to follow after all. If not quite in the manner that had been intended.

So easy, to step through and vanish. Forever.

* * *

In another place, in another city, it was also raining, though here the downpour threatened to turn to sleet and hail long before its end. This was not uncommon, here, but today the weather was even worse than usual. Everyone was staying safely indoors until the storm's end, who had the good sense and means to do so.

Of course, there were those who had neither.

A young boy, who looked little more than six years of age, had taken refuge in a reasonably well sheltered shop doorway, and was cursing under his breath, shivering as he tried to wring the water from his cloak. It was not going well. At the best of times the worn, shabby cloth provided merely a modicum of warmth, and in its present state it only served to make its wearer even colder than he already was.

Eventually the boy reached this conclusion for himself; with a wary glance over his shoulder at the door, he unwrapped the cloak from his shoulders and spread it on the step to dry. After a moment's consideration, he shrugged and sat down next to it, cupping his hands over his mouth to warm them.

Watching the rain fall, he pondered his present circumstances. He generally prided himself on his knowledge of his city's labyrinthine streets, and so it was with great reluctance that he was forced to admit, if only to himself, that he was not _entirely _sure where he was at present. At another time this would not have bothered him; in and of itself, the discovery of new territory to explore was always cause for celebration. Just now, though, he would have preferred to be tucked cosily away in his latest den -- an abandoned shed which was, thanks to the city's centuries of carelessly haphazard growth, completely inaccessible except by rooftop, and even then was extremely difficult to find if you didn't already know where it was. The boy would have been the first to admit that as homes went, it wasn't much to look at, but it suited his needs.

From his present location, however, it was at least an hour's walk -- he peered dubiously at the buildings lining the horizon -- an hour's walk Gateward. Ish. Probably. Less, of course, if he ran the entire way, assuming he didn't run into trouble or get lost any further... but still long enough for him to drown while on solid ground, and this prospect did not appeal. If he was going to drown, he felt that at least it ought to be somewhere suitably dramatic, like out in the middle of an ocean somewhere. He had never seen an ocean, and while drowning seemed rather a high price to pay for the privilege, he supposed it would still be better than drowning for nothing at all.

So he stayed where he was, but that didn't mean that he liked it much. After a quarter-hour or so of restless fidgeting, he finally hopped to his feet once more, deciding that he'd had quite enough of sitting still. Venturing into the downpour looked no better an idea than it had ten minutes earlier, but he was sitting in front of a door, and more often than not, doors led to places.

He picked up his cloak and went inside.

A few minutes later, as he was busy wiping the blood of a very recently deceased shopkeeper off of a pair of sharp blades that had been concealed in his sleeves, he reflected that it was funny how often doors led to places in which he wasn't _welcome_. Granted, he had caught a glimpse of himself in a shop window and had to admit that 'drowned rat' was probably the most favorable description that could currently be applied, but still, was that any excuse to try and throw him out? It wasn't as if there were any customers he might scare off, not in this weather.

Well, it hardly mattered. He had been lucky; the man hadn't expected something like him. Very few people ever did, but those few usually proved problematic, and the boy didn't feel particularly up to dealing with problems just now, on an empty stomach and chilled to the bone.

On which subject...

Ignoring the still-warm body lying on the floor, the boy snapped his knives back into their sheathes and wandered off into the further recesses of the store, peering curiously at the items lining the shelves as he went. Somewhere in this place, with any luck, there would be something to eat.

* * *

An hour later, it was still raining. The woman standing outside the shop seemed hardly to notice, however, and when at last she went inside, no water dripped from her dark hair or long cloak. 

Her gaze drifted across the room before finally coming to rest on the carnage still strewn on the floor. Her lips thinned, though whether in distaste or mere annoyance was hard to tell; otherwise, she appeared unmoved by the sight. For a moment, she stood very still, head tilted to one side, as though she were listening for something. Then she raised her hand, and a strange creature (if indeed it was a living thing) shimmered into existence at the centre of the room.

It looked a bit like a very large barbell with spherical ends, and had a metallic gold sheen to it. The thing seemed almost to be more liquid than solid, however; its surface rippled and shifted constantly, seemingly stirred by the slightest current of air. It hovered motionless for a moment, and then, without warning, a thin golden tendril shot from its surface and lashed out at something in the shadows behind a row of shelves.

This barely missed a small, scruffy figure, who gave an indignant yelp and shot out from his hiding place, a pair of knives appearing in his hands as he moved.

The woman frowned, as much in startlement as anything. Her Guardian did not, as a general rule, miss.

At a slight wave of her hand it sent a flurry of further shots in the boy's direction; he dodged each, though by a narrower margin each time. A few times he tried to strike back, but his knives had no effect except to deflect the tendrils momentarily, and his face began to grow tense. Eventually, not taking his eyes off the thing, he managed a slightly out of breath, "Oi, call this stupid thing off, will you? We'll be here all day, at this rate."

This was a sufficiently unusual comment, coming from someone in his situation, that the woman actually did send the creature a silent command to desist, if only temporarily.

"_Thank _you," the boy muttered once the attacks had ceased. "Sheesh. What'd I ever do to _you?_" Eyeing the Guardian warily, he started to edge almost imperceptibly towards the door as he went on, in a more conciliatory tone, "'S not a bad... pet, though. As, er, as overgrown attack doorknobs go. Probably... probably one of the best of those I've ever seen, actually," he added generously, in a tone which contrived to suggest that he had seen hundreds of overgrown attack doorknobs in his short lifetime and thus knew what he was talking about. "What's its name?"

The woman's lips thinned. "It is the Guardian."

"Ah. That's not very imaginative," he told her reprovingly, "but I guess it's appropriate." He held out a cautious hand towards the creature as he sidled a few inches closer to the door. "_Nice _Guardian -- who's a good... doorknob, then? Can I pet it?" he added to the woman, as an aside.

As icily as she could manage in the face of this, she told him, "It has killed thousands."

"Oh. 'S that a no, then?"

"That is a no."

The boy hesitated suddenly, tilting his head to one side. "Thousands of what?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"It's killed thousands of what? Thousands of ants? Thousands of dragons? Ants wouldn't be as impressive as dragons, really, no offense. I mean, the biting ones are kind of nasty, but--"

"_People_," she snapped, a trifle more testily than she had intended. "Thousands of people."

"Ah. Well, more impressive than ants, at least." The boy gave the creature a dubious look. "Uh, just out of curiosity... had these thousands of people ever heard of dodging?"

An instant later he sprang backwards, one hand clutching at the left side of his face, where one of the Guardian's tendrils had opened a shallow gash across his cheekbone. "_Ow. _What was that for?"

"Making a point," the woman told him calmly. "You may be a tad quicker than most, child, but that does not make you invincible." In fact she had to admit, if only to herself, that the boy was amazingly fast. His apparent disregard for her servant's abilities had annoyed her, and frankly she had intended the shot to put out his eye, not give him a mere scrape which would heal in a few days and probably not even leave a scar. But his reflexes had saved him -- and the Guardian had been moving very nearly at the limit of its speed, that time.

"'Kay, okay," the boy mumbled sullenly, glaring at her. "_Sorry_. Sheesh."

The woman eyed him with the beginnings of curiosity. The shopkeeper had been a servant of hers, one of many sets of eyes and ears which she had in this city; even she could not be everywhere at once, at least not without a good deal of effort. He had not, she had to admit, been one of her more useful people, but he had been better than most in a fight -- she would not have bothered with him at all, otherwise. And now he was dead.

And she could not help but notice that the little boy standing before her had not yet gotten around to cleaning the blood off his hands, though his knives gleamed as if they had been polished very recently.

No normal child, this. Perhaps her visit to this accursed city would not prove the total loss she had first expected. "Tell me. Why is there a dead body on the floor?"

"Dead body? What dead bod..." He followed her gaze, and enlightenment dawned. "Oh. _That _dead body. Um." He shrugged. "I'm just here to get in out of the rain, Auntie. Would you believe me if I said he was like that when I got here?"

"No." Belatedly, her eyebrows shot up. "_What _did you just call me?"

"Well, you haven't said your name," the boy shrugged. "And girls get so touchy about age, I thought it'd be more polite than _old lady_." His voice took on a faint edge. "More polite than _child,_ too. I haven't been a child since I was born, Auntie-Whatsit. What is your name, anyway?"

Someone with such natural talent, she counseled herself, might prove useful. And if he did not, there would be time to kill him _later. _For now, patience. "Answer my question -- child. Why is the shopkeeper dead?"

"I _said _he was dead when I got here." The boy shifted uncomfortably under her level gaze, and added, "But if I had to _guess_, I'd say that prob'ly somebody came along and wanted to get in out'f the rain for a minute or two, and he didn't like the look of 'em and tried to throw them out, and they killed him. That's what I'd _guess. _Was he, uh, somebody you knew?"

"He was a servant of mine, in fact."

The boy hesitated for just a moment. "...Oh. This is... just another guess, you understand, but you prob'ly ought to hire some cleverer people, Auntie."

One corner of her mouth twitched upward at this. "Fools have their uses, child."

"Pssh." The boy waved a disparaging hand. "Nothing wrong with _fools_. But there's interesting and foolish, and then there's just stupid and foolish. The first one's okay... second one's not so good, Auntie." He had resumed his barely visible sidle towards the door. "What _is _your name, anyway?"

Little harm in telling him. He could hardly be expected to recognise the name, in any case. "I am called Morganna."

The boy's eyebrows rose. "Hah. Like the old lady who stole the Key?"

"I _beg _your pardon?"

He grinned, shaking his head. "Ah... nothing. 'S just something from an old story -- _you _haven't heard it, prob'ly. It's about--"

"Oh, I'm _quite _familiar with it," she interrupted, quietly. "But I must admit, boy... you surprise me. Not many remember my name, now."

The boy eyed her skeptically. "Ri-ight. _Sure_. May I say, then, Auntie Morrigan -- you're looking very good for, what -- three, four thousand years old?" He snorted. "Exactly how gullible do you think I am?"

She stared at him, faintly incredulous. This... _foolish_ child had guessed who she was -- and thought it was some sort of, of _joke?_

Well. Fools had their uses, indeed.

With some effort she suppressed her temper, and said only, mildly, "It does not much matter to me, child, _what _you choose to believe. As you have killed my servant--" he opened his mouth to protest, but at a sharp look from her he closed it again and only shrugged, a little sheepishly-- "There is little reason for me to remain here." She paused, and then added, "Stupid he may have been, boy, but he claimed to have information for which I had been searching, for a very long time. _Valuable _information -- and nothing of which he would have left a record." He would have been careful of that, she knew.

She gave the boy a level stare, and waited.

Curiosity warred with caution in his eyes. "What... what kind of information?"

"The kind of information which is none of your business."

He made a face at her, but after a moment persisted, "It's just that I'm _good _at information, Auntie M. I could, maybe, work f--" He paused for barely a fraction of a second before amending smoothly, "Work with you. Reas'nable rates," he added hopefully.

For a moment, she considered it -- but -- no, she decided. He would be far too much a nuisance to take in at present. Anyone whose first questions, when confronted with a monster which had wiped out armies in its day, were _What's its name? _and _Can I pet it? _would never survive -- it was a wonder he had lived this long, in this city.

_Then again, _she thought to herself, you _haven't killed him yet, have you?_

Well... she could keep an eye on him, if nothing else. At some point down the road, he might prove useful.

She chuckled, quietly. "I think not, boy." His face fell, and she went on, "At least, not today. I think, in fact, that I may be... quite close to finding what I was seeking, after all. But another time, perhaps. What is your name?"

He hesitated -- understandably. Telling one's name to an unknown mage was not, generally speaking, a good idea. After a moment's thought, though, he grinned cheerfully and said, "Skeith."

He sprang sideways as one of the Guardian's tendrils shot past at head height, approximately an inch away from his ear, and buried itself in the wall.

"I did tell you, child," Morganna said levelly. "I do know the old stories. A fine killer you may be, for your age; the Terror of Death, you are not. Your real name, please."

"Just seeing if you were paying attention," the boy muttered, but after a long, considering look at the Guardian, he said, grudgingly, "...Sora."

* * *

Gate travel, as has already been indicated, can be a precarious business. The pathways connecting the World's various planes may not be difficult to follow, if you know how, but one step wrong is all it takes to be lost in Chaos forever. 

Unless you're very, very lucky (or unlucky, if being lost in eternal Chaos sounds like a good time to you) and you fall onto a new path by chance. The odds against this are astronomical, but it has been known to happen.

Or unless -- perhaps -- there happens to be Someone or Something watching, some unknown Power... and He, She or It _pulls _you to a new path.

This has never been known to happen, ever, but you do hear stories.

Either way, it's more likely than not that this new path will be one previously untraveled. There are a lot of unknown pathways out there, threading their way through the Chaos. Far many more than there are known ones. Most of these, unless you already know the way, can only be found by such chance, or such twist of fate.

They lead to places long ago forgotten, or -- sometimes -- purposely hidden away, forbidden to all, for reasons no longer remembered.

They lead to Lost Ground.

* * *

One step, and she was-- 

_Falling._

And then, after a length of time which might have been a few seconds or might have been a year, she wasn't.

Tsukasa blinked, and felt solid ground under her feet.

Before anything else, she noticed the silence. Few places in Mac Anu were ever quiet, the city being as busy as it was. The dormitories at her school were certainly never quiet; it was one item on a long list of things she hated about them.

Its outlying fields and forests were a different matter, but even there, there was sound. Birds chirping, small animals chattering, insects buzzing, wind rustling the leaves or the grass.

Here there was nothing. _Nothing. _Even the cool air was perfectly still.

She stared around herself uncomprehending, faint resentment twinging in her mind. This hadn't been supposed to happen -- she was supposed to be _gone _now, swallowed up by the Gate forever. It hadn't been supposed to spit her back out. Tsukasa was used to feeling unwelcome practically everywhere, but this -- this seemed a bit much.

_Figures,_ she thought bitterly. _Out of the thousands of people who've fallen into Chaos and gotten lost forever, I have to be the one who survives. Hah. Can't even get _that _right._

Gradually, however, it began to dawn, through the haze of self-pity, that she was standing somewhere where probably nobody in the known World had ever set foot, at least not in her lifetime. This was Lost Ground.

A moment earlier she had been ready to turn and step straight back into the Gate -- surely such an unlikely thing would not happen twice in a row. But... it... wouldn't hurt to have a look around, first, would it? She wouldn't get another chance.

Before her stood a tall stone building which looked a little bit like a picture that she had seen, of a cathedral which had supposedly once stood in Mac Anu, honouring some deity or other who had long since fallen out of fashion. Actually, when she stared at it for a few minutes -- it looked a _lot _like that picture. Huge, ornate double doors barred the entrance, and she wondered, in a half-daze, if they were locked.

She walked forward, and gave one of the doors a tentative push.

It swung open, soundlessly.

She went inside.

* * *

Every journey, it is sometimes said, begins with a single step. After a fashion this is true, of course... and then again, after a fashion it isn't. _Something _causes the first step, even if it's nothing more tangible than a driving curiosity to see what's around the next corner. And that itself must have had some cause... 

And so on, and so forth -- probably back to the beginning of time, if one is determined enough. Likewise, this day was not the true beginning of this story. The trouble, the heart of the trouble, began much, much earlier, at the beginning of the World itself -- and perhaps even before that. But it had been long forgotten by mortals, its consequences hidden for many ages; this day was the first time in three millennia that it had left any lasting and visible mark anywhere on the planes of the World, and, as such, it makes as good a place as any to start the story.

That the effect was visible, of course, does not mean that it was widely noticed, or that those few who did notice recognised it for what it was. For the next three years or so, life went on more or less as usual for all concerned.

In Mac Anu, the Crimson Knights, led by Lady Subaru and her new second-in-command -- a man called Ginkan, the Silver Knight -- continued to rise in power, though it was rumoured that the young Lady had very little idea of what went on behind her back. Crim returned to the city on a number of occasions, but Subaru politely rebuffed his best attempts to speak to her.

A few months after the events described here, the little boy called Sora left his home city in a bit of a hurry, after a rather complicated incident involving an ancient magic ring, some extremely rare poisons, an ill-tempered mage known only as BT, and quite a lot of blackmail. The details are irrelevant at present and it will probably be for the best if they are not recorded here.

By this time he had completely forgotten about his encounter with the strange woman who called herself Morganna -- which was a shame, as he might have avoided a good deal of trouble later on had he only taken the matter a little more seriously from the start. Then again, he might not have done; trouble, whatever else one might say about it, was usually _interesting_, and as far as he was concerned, that was the important thing.

Morganna, however, did not forget about him.

As for Tsukasa...

A few hours after stepping through the Gate with the intention of never seeing daylight again, she returned to Mac Anu, in an even quieter than usual frame of mind, and to all outward appearances, went on with life pretty much as always. Nobody had actually noticed her brief disappearance, and she told no one what she had found.

But once one has been somewhere, through the Gate, it is generally possible to return. More and more often, Tsukasa spent her snatches of free time at the little patch of hidden ground upon which she had stumbled. It was easy to slip away; nobody ever paid her much attention.

Almost nobody. The girl called Mimiru, despite her initial dislike for the young mage, eventually came to suspect that the other girl was a very lonely and unhappy person, and made valiant attempts, on more than one occasion, to strike up a friendship. These were less than successful, but as the only person who even tried, she at least deserves some mention.

And that was that. Life went on. For the time, the World waited.

* * *

A/N: Bits and pieces of this have been kicking around on my hard drive for ages, and I thought I should start trying to assemble them into something resembling a coherent story; hope you've enjoyed it thus far. Reviews are much appreciated. : ) 


	2. One: Walk By My Side

A/N: Aaand, here's chapter one. Many, many thanks to Keyaki, my sole reviewer thus far -- everybody else, R&R! (Please?)

* * *

One: _Walk By My Side_

_

* * *

Present Day

* * *

_Grey light filtered through the high, ornate windows of the cathedral, leaving a quiet and forlorn aura about everything it touched. All was still but for a few dust motes here and there, shimmering and dancing in the weak light, and even they moved in slow motion. This place had stood virtually unchanged for millennia, and would do so for many more; there was no need to rush. 

_Walk by my side..._

The silver-haired girl sitting perched on the altar, staring idly up at the high, vaulted ceiling, did not so much hear the voice as imagine that she heard it. Its endlessly repeated promises were whispers at the back of her mind, nothing more.

But it was always here, it had been since the first time she entered this place. She might have thought she was going crazy, but for the fact that it was only _here _that she heard it, or imagined it. It would fade into silence as soon as she left the building. It always did. And even if she could not truly hear it... she nonetheless knew who it sounded like.

As she had since the first time she entered this place.

* * *

_She pushed open the door, and went inside. _

_The building was as grand on the inside as it was on the outside. For a moment, Tsukasa wondered if she had been mistaken, if perhaps this was not Lost Ground at all; the place was in perfect upkeep. The stone floor glistened as if it had been polished only yesterday, so that she could actually see her reflection in its gleaming surface. The columns of long benches to either side of the central aisle looked as if someone had cared equally well for them. No dust was visible on them; no scratches that she could see marred their dark, shining wood._

_Perhaps it was Lost Ground, after all, she thought. Surely this place could not have been in such pristine condition, had people actually made use of it._

_At the end of the aisle was an altar of plain grey stone. Tsukasa walked towards it, still in a half daze, her footsteps ringing loud and strange in the empty silence._

_Words had been carved on the front of the altar, but here, at least, was some evidence of time's passage -- they were so worn and faded that most of them were illegible. Those that could still be made out clearly were written in a strange script; Tsukasa had seen pictures of it in a few of her schoolbooks, but it had gone out of use centuries ago, at the latest. Nonetheless, after staring for a long moment, she realised that there was at least one word here she recognised. Or rather, at least one name: _

_Skeith._

_

* * *

_

It had never seriously occurred to her to tell anyone what she had found. For one, that would have meant telling someone that she'd gotten through the Gate alone in the first place -- and why. Besides, telling would mean that this beautiful, solemn, lonely place would soon be overrun with people, and that thought was nearly unbearable.

And then, of course--

_

* * *

__A low, kind laugh sounded from somewhere she could not see, and echoed from the rafters._

And here you are at last. Welcome, child.

_She started, and stared around herself warily, wondering if she had truly heard the words. "Who are you?"_

_Again the sweet laugh._ Who do you think I am, child?

_Belatedly, she stiffened as if struck. _That voice.

_Unable to believe her ears, she whispered, barely audible, "M..._Mom_...?"_

* * *

That had been three years ago, now. She had never gotten a straight answer about the strange Voice's true identity; for a long time she had pressed for one, but each time the question had either been directed straight back at her, or ignored entirely. When she kept it up, though, the Voice had eventually begun to grow quieter in her mind, and _then _she had stopped, fearing to lose it entirely. 

Even after that it had faded in and out for a time, though. For a while she had barely been able to make out one word in three or four. But it was getting louder again, now, and it spoke of safety, and shelter, and friendship, and family.

_You need not be alone in the World, not anymore. You need me, child, just as I need you. Join me. Walk by my side._

_As long as you walk by my side, I will protect you._

Leaning back to watch the dust motes dancing in the air, it suddenly came into Tsukasa's mind that the Voice always said this, and there was something she had never said in return...

"I will." It was no more than a whisper.

_Thank you, my child._

At the words, an overwhelming sense of peace filled her mind, and a strange lethargy began to creep over her. The silken sweet voice went on:

_I knew you would come to my side, in the end. You will not regret it, I promise you that. I protect all those who walk by my side, always. I promise I will never leave you... never again._

Tsukasa's eyelids started to grow heavy, and she found that she did not have the strength to keep them open, nor the energy to care very much one way or the other. She was tired, and darkness beckoned.

She followed it, and then, for the time, there was nothing.

* * *

Day to day, Sora made a pretty decent living on money borrowed from other people's pockets and purses, usually without said people's knowledge. 

He thus could not help finding it a little ironic that the one time he got 'caught' had to be the one time he was actually keeping his hands to himself, and had in fact only stumbled into his supposed victim completely by innocent accident.

He had been walking a little unsteadily the last couple of days. A dragon had recently taken up residence nearby; Sora had never seen a dragon before, and had been very eager to have a look at this one, and more importantly at its treasure hoard. Unfortunately it had been sleeping on _top _of its treasure hoard, and had woken up before Sora had quite finished admiring how nicely some of the larger jewels fit into his knapsack, and things had more or less gone downhill from there. Being very quick, it turned out, would only get a person just so far when they were stuck in a cave with only one exit, which was being blocked by a bloody great firebreathing lizard with armoured skin, eighteen-inch claws, and a temper. He'd had to give everything back -- _and _what money he'd had in his pockets -- and even then, he hadn't gotten out uninjured.

Some people had no sense of humour. Some dragons, too.

So now, yes, he was limping a bit, and had stumbled on an uneven cobble, and was having a good deal of trouble trying to keep his mouth shut on the observation that _had _he been trying to steal this idiot woman's purse, he'd have been a heck of a lot more subtle than to run headfirst into her. He wasn't _completely _incompetent, thank you.

And now -- oh, wonderful. She was calling for the guards. That did it -- time to be leaving. He twisted out of her grip with ease, getting ready to run.

Her hand shot out and caught his collar--

Sora, in these situations, usually didn't bother stopping to think things through. Where he'd grown up, if one hesitated, one generally wound up either dead, or wishing they were.

Later, he would wish that he had paused to think about this one for a second or two. But it had been a long few days, and he was tired, and old habits took over.

There was a faint, metallic _click _as a blade snapped out of his sleeve, and a brief blur of movement -- and then his assailant had let him go and was stumbling backwards, screaming and clutching at a deep, bloody gash on her arm.

He raised his other blade for the kill -- and then, too late, a small, helpful voice at the back of Sora's mind mentioned that this _wasn't _the Slum, and that passers-by here, seeing a fellow citizen attacked in the street, were not so likely to shrug it off as an everyday occurrence and hurry on past, looking the other way in studious silence. One, two, even three opponents at once, he could probably manage, even injured. Half a town was another matter. _And this is why we don't pull knives on people until _after dark,the voice sing-songed, _and out of public hearing, at that._ _How many times have we been over this?_

Right. _Now _it was time to leave.

Sora took two hasty steps, felt a heavy hand land on his shoulder, and turned to find himself face to face with an entire battle-squad of Cobalt Knights.

* * *

Morganna shook her head as, in her mind's eye, she saw the boy go down fighting. _Foolish indeed, child_. Sora really shouldn't have been out in broad daylight to begin with, not when he was injured, not in this town. Fort Ouph and its environs were kept under even tighter control by the Cobalt Knights than Mac Anu was kept by the Crimson, and the Cobalts were well known for their extremely narrow views on certain subjects. The shade of the boy's eyes, a dark red scarcely ever seen in 'normal' people, would be enough to label him, in the Knights' minds, as demon-blood -- someone whose ancestry was, to put it politely, not quite all human. The best for which anyone so accused could hope from the Cobalts was a quick death. 

After an obscure fashion, Morganna quite liked the Cobalt Knights, or at least found them very amusing. They were exceedingly zealous in their self-appointed mission to protect humanity, and unfailingly incompetent when it came to working out who and what they ought to be protecting it from -- and, as such, usually wound up lashing out instead at the first innocent bystander to look at them cross-eyed.

Sometimes, though, they managed to hit the right target through sheer statistical error. When that happened, they could prove inconvenient.

This was looking like one such time. Sora, despite this most recent slip-up, was growing up to be a talented little killer indeed. (And in a way, even his current situation spoke well in that regard. Three knights had fallen before the rest had managed to subdue the boy, and of those, at least one would not be getting back up.) She had long since decided that Fate had plans in store for the boy.

Well -- sometimes, perhaps, Fate could use a little help. It was lucky for Sora she had looked in on him when she had; her thoughts had been elsewhere, lately.

Lucky in the short term, at least.

She pondered the situation for a moment. She would prefer not to intervene directly, in such a trivial matter, but perhaps there was someone about who could be... persuaded...

Her vision wandered across the town, seeking some likely-looking would-be champion of justice.

And then she smiled. _Ah. _There _we are._

* * *

Subaru stared at the hastily scribbled letter in her hands. It had been delivered by a message-runner from one of Fort Ouph's outlying villages, only a few minutes ago. Normally these things went past one of her secretaries, first, but on this occasion the boy had flat-out refused to leave until he had seen the note directly into her Ladyship's keeping. 

_Milady,_

_You may shortly be getting some questions from the Cobalts, regarding a boy called Sora. If you do, please tell them he's been wanted in Mac Anu for some time, for whatever reason you care to make up. It's a bit of a long story why, but the short version is: They picked him up for attempted petty theft, but now they're claiming he's demon-blood, and you know how they are about that kind of thing in Fort Ouph. _

_It's not my business, I know, but the kid's only about nine, and I'd rather not sit back and watch what happens to him. (Besides, as always, I like_ _'not my business.') And I doubt anybody else is going to step in. So I'm going to do what I can to get him out of there, but the Cobalts aren't really known for listening to reason, and I don't really want to have to hit anybody, so it may prove my best bet to tell them you folks have prior claim on his head. That, at least, they'll probably understand._

_I realise we aren't on the best of terms these days, and I know you don't like to lie to anyone, but please -- this isn't for my sake, after all._

_I hope this finds you well. _

_Your devoted servant, always,_

_Crim_

Ginkan stood a few feet away, radiating silent disapproval. His feelings regarding his former commander were well enough known, and Subaru thought that it would probably be for the best if he did not see the note's contents, for now. He would probably not approve.

If it came to that, nor did she, not entirely. The Crimson Knights had always gotten on reasonably well with the Cobalt, and Crim was right about one thing -- she was not a liar.

But it was also no secret that the Cobalt Knights -- though Subaru firmly believed them to be well-intentioned -- could be very quick to judge, and harsh when it came to meting out justice. They had guarded the cities of Fort Ouph and Lia Fail since time immemorial, and certainly, for the majority of the population there were few places safer or more peaceful in the known World... but she had to wonder, sometimes, how much that cost. And if it was really worth it.

The message-runner coughed quietly. He had been watching her with thinly concealed impatience for some minutes, now. "Er... begging your pardon, milady, but I've got to take a response back, you see? He said you haven't even got to write anything -- a yes or no'll do."

She was quiet for a moment longer, and then said, "Tell him... I shall do what I can."

The boy nodded, clearly relieved, and left practically at a dash.

After he left there was another moment of silence, this one substantially more awkward than the previous. At last Ginkan began, "May I ask, milady--"

"You may not."

His shoulders stiffened, but he replied only, "As milady wishes."

Inwardly she sighed. Ginkan had been a great help to her over the past three years, and she valued his assistance and his friendship, but sometimes his views were as rigid as the Cobalt Knights' were. They would only argue, if she told him what Crim had asked, and she was not feeling quite up to that at the present time.

"Thank you," she said quietly. Eager to change the subject, she went on, "Tell me. How goes the search? For the young girl who's gone missing?" A student from one of the city schools had disappeared a couple of days earlier -- stepped through the Gate, and not come back.

The warrior grimaced. "Not well. We've yet to find any real, useful lead. There are some... strange stories, filtering in from some of the villages -- people claiming to have seen her -- but those have come in from over a dozen different places now, and to reach them all she'd have had to come back through the City Gate as many times."

"In which case the guards would have seen her, at least."

He nodded. "We've been searching those places thoroughly, of course, but so far no sign of her -- it's likely most of the reports were just people hoping for a share of the reward. Still..." His face darkened. "It's some hope. The other possibility, of course, is that she stepped through the Gate and didn't come out _anywhere_, and..." He trailed off, reluctantly.

"And that's a conclusion," Subaru finished for him, "which nobody is going to reach until they must."

He bowed, and said firmly, "Not until we've scoured every inch of the World twice over, Lady Subaru."

And he meant it, she knew. That was the thing, she reflected, which she admired about Ginkan. He had his faults, to be sure -- but he never gave up on _anything_, however difficult. "I should be out helping in the search," she told him softly. "Not sitting here, doing nothing."

"Lady Subaru," he hastened to protest, "you are the ruler of this city. Your duties lie _here_."

_And that's the thing, _the treacherous little thought occurred, _which you _hate _about Ginkan. Always trying to shelter you. _"My duties lie with the _people_ of this city, sir. Of whom this girl is one." _Crim would not have argued, not about something like this. _She squelched that thought firmly, before it could go any further.

He sighed. "Milady, we have over a hundred men and women out looking for the girl, at present. If she is anywhere to be found, we will find her -- one more person will make little difference. Whereas there is only one ruler of Mac Anu, and that is you. If anything should happen to you--"

He was right, she knew, but that made it little better. "At the very least, I should go talk to her family myself, assure them that every care is being taken in the search."

"Ah." Ginkan coughed. "That... might not be such a good idea, milady. Her only family is her father, and he... is not a pleasant man. She boards at the Academy, on city funds -- apparently the two of them have barely spoken in years."

Subaru closed her eyes, briefly. "I see. I -- her friends in her class must be very worried for her."

The knight's mouth twisted into a regretful, ironic smile. "What friends would those be, milady? We've asked around extensively."

No family, no friends... Subaru hoped that the girl was well, and that the Knights would find her, but despite her earlier insistence that they would not think her dead until all other possibilities had been exhausted, a sudden shred of doubt began to creep into her mind.

She had not realised, before, just how lonely this girl Tsukasa Shouji might be.

* * *

A/N: Review!!!!! Heck, even if it's just to say you hate it. I'm not picky. :) 


	3. Two: Waking, Dreaming

Disclaimer: .hack and its wonderful characters belong to Bandai and CyberConnect 2, and are used here without permission.

* * *

A/N: _Finally_. Apologies for the slowness of the update; real life and writer's block got in the way for a bit, as they sometimes do... 

Big, big thanks to Keyaki, Yumehito, and Flawed Imagination, for reviewing -- and even bigger thanks to them for saying nice things. :) 'Twas much appreciated.

* * *

Chapter Two: _Waking, Dreaming _

* * *

Images, half memory, half bad dream, floated in the darkness. 

_People, everywhere, the crowds so thick and claustrophobic that a person could barely breathe. And everyone too caught up in their own affairs to notice a frightened child who'd wandered down the wrong street and gotten lost. Or if they noticed, they were far too preoccupied to care._

_She'd learned that a long time ago -- never, ever to expect anyone to care. Even her father, wrapped up in his own troubles after her mother's death, had only shouted at her when she'd finally made her way home, until she had found herself wondering what the point had been in coming back at all._

* * *

Three days, it had been now. 

Mimiru stared blankly down at the book she was supposed to be reading, currently opened to a random page about halfway through. She could not, at present, quite recall what it was about, nor what the title was; something to do with the history of someplace or other, or... something. Wasn't it? In theory, she had been reading for the last hour, now, but she couldn't really say she had been paying attention.

Three days.

She _wasn't _worried, of course. It wasn't as if she was friends with Tsukasa -- it wasn't as if they had ever been friends, not really. The young mage had made it clear, plenty of times, that friendship was a concept in which she had no interest. The girl had always seemed a terribly unhappy person, and Mimiru had _tried, _for a long time, to get through to her... but it had never worked; one way or another, every conversation had ended in shouting. On Mimiru's part, at least. Tsukasa, for her part, had never bothered much with shouting; she'd just withdrawn into her shell, and gotten more and more sullen and unfriendly with every passing day. Mimiru, in the end, simply hadn't had the patience to deal with her; it was hard to feel much sympathy for the girl for very long, when she seemed to put so much effort into being unlikable.

So. Of _course _she wasn't worried. Concerned for the welfare of a fellow student who had gone missing, yes, even a fellow student she didn't like very well. Worried to the point of being unable to think about anything else, no. Difficulty focusing on schoolwork, she assured herself firmly, did not count. When it came to books, her attention span was little more than ten minutes long even on the best of days.

Tsukasa had probably just run off to hide somewhere, anyway. About a month ago she had gotten a limited-travel license, allowing her to go through the Gate alone as long as she stayed in Mac Anu's vicinity, and it was no secret she didn't like the city. She was nearly sixteen years old now, and she wasn't stupid (except, Mimiru had to add to herself, when it came to dealing with other people). She had been getting very good with spells, lately; her teachers might not like her any more than anyone else did, but most of them had to concede she was one of the brighter students they'd had in recent years. Surely she could take care of herself.

Mimiru wasn't worried about her. Not in the least.

It was with great relief that the girl heard the bells in the school's clock tower strike five. Time for an hour of weapons practice before dinner, for all the school's young would-be warriors and defenders of the city. She could do with some activity -- a person could only take just so much reading in one afternoon.

Wait a minute. Practice started _at _five o'clock. Which -- oh, hell -- meant she was late. That was what too much studying did for you.

Dropping the history book (or whatever it was) on her bedroom floor, Mimiru went out the door at a run, and set off for the practice yard.

* * *

_Everyone was wrapped up in their own troubles, most of the time. So many people, she could remember, all thinking that they were the centre of the World itself. _

_Thoughtless classmates, who worried over silly things like looks, or petty quarrels with friends, or restrictive rules at school; what did _those _matter, when they at least had parents who didn't hate the sight of them? Stupid teachers, who thought that age was the sole measure of intelligence and that intelligence was the sole measure of worth. A multitude of adults who always knew what was best for you, and by 'best for you' meant 'most convenient for them'. _

_Hardly anyone ever bothered to look past their own self-centred worlds -- ever bothered to think that perhaps, somewhere, there might just be somebody with more problems than they themselves had..._

* * *

_Ow. Ow, ow, OW. Jeez. Wha' happ..._

_...Oh._

_Right. _

_Crud._

_I'm in trouble, aren't I?_

Upon consideration, Sora thought that perhaps he would keep his eyes closed for now. From the feel of it, his hands and feet were chained to a wall, and he had a sneaking suspicion that should anyone notice he'd woken up, it would not bode well for the immediate future. Besides, his head ached like crazy -- his whole _body _ached, from head to toe. What had hit him, anyway? He remembered--

_Light._

Ah. Well, yeah, that would probably explain it. Back home, there hadn't been a lot of actual _laws, _as such, but there had been a few, and one of them was that everyone left light-magic well alone. Sora remembered someone breaking that rule, once, about four years back -- actually, now he thought of it, he seemed to recall hearing it had been one of the Cobalts. The mage had stumbled into the city somehow, and had taken it upon himself to cleanse the place of its Evil Influences...

Sora would have snorted at the memory, if he hadn't been pretending to be unconscious. _You'd've had to wipe the entire city out, mister. And then burn the place to the ground. And even then, be _real _careful about the ashes. _The man had been dealt with quickly, but not before he'd managed to do some real damage. Too many of the place's inhabitants had a... susceptibility to light-magic, for one reason or another. Many of them didn't like to be within a mile of the stuff, even if it wasn't aimed at them.

Sora was one of the latter.(1) He had been up on the city rooftops, watching the goings-on with great interest, in the cheerful expectation of seeing the idiot die a slow and painful death. And then the spellcasting had started... and he'd just had the time and presence of mind to get away from the roof's edge before he had completely collapsed. He had been lucky; quite a lot of people had been killed.

He had been careful to stay well away from the stuff, after that; fortunately, there weren't all that many people in the World who knew how to cast it. He'd never actually gotten _hit _by it before. Why was he still alive? It must not have been a very strong spell, he supposed.

Well, about that, he wasn't going to complain.

Probably not a good idea to stick around here for long, though. He tugged surreptitiously at one hand, intending to test the strength of his bindings...

Something exploded in his wrist. That was what it felt like, at least. His eyes snapped open out of sheer startlement, and he barely bit back a cry.

"Ah," said an indifferent voice; the speaker was a dark-haired woman, leaning against the room's far wall. Sora, trying to blink bright spots from his vision, couldn't see her too well, but he thought perhaps she had been one of the Knights he'd fought. "Well, if you weren't awake before, you are now. Magi did warn us you wouldn't be out for long."

"'Ello to you, too," Sora muttered dizzily. "What just happened, there?"

She ignored him. As she continued to speak, her voice lost its indifference, taking on a note of anger. And hatred. "On which note, I would like to say -- the healers say she'll recover from her wounds, demon, and if any god'll listen to you, you'd better pray they're right. You've already killed one good friend of mine today, and if you've killed another..." Words seemed to fail her; she paused for a moment, shaking her head, and then said only, tightly, "You understand me?"

Sora hesitated; this was a bit much to take in when he'd only been conscious for two minutes, and had a pounding headache besides, but he hazarded a guess. "Um. Magi. Was she the mage with you guys? Glasses, long hair--?"

"I _said,_" the woman bit out, "do you understand me?"

He hesitated another moment, and then decided not to push his luck. "Uh... yeah. Except who Magi is, but I think I've got the general idea, y...es."

"Good."

"But, look, what--"

But the woman had already spun on her heel and strode out; a heavy door slammed shut after her, and a moment later came the sound of bars being slid into place. Sora grimaced; somebody _really _didn't want him going anywhere, by the sounds. He'd have been flattered by the attention, had he been a little less worried.

Not _scared,_ of course. Just... a little worried.

He wasn't sure he wanted to try moving again, just now, but he risked turning his head far enough to see his arm. As his vision began to clear, he saw that there were symbols etched into the metal band around his wrist... symbols which looked quite a lot like the funny, old-fashioned characters which mages used when they wrote spell scrolls. He'd never learned to read it, much -- he had pestered (well, and threatened) BT into teaching him a little bit, once, and had picked up a little bit out of books, but had quickly decided that it wasn't worth the time and trouble. Even the best of mages couldn't cast spells with a slit throat, and as far as Sora was concerned, that was the important thing.

Was there some kind of spell on the chains? He hadn't thought that sort of thing was possible. Magic could be written down, as in the aforementioned scrolls, but it had to be read aloud in order to work -- and even then, it would only work once before the scroll crumbled to dust. And the effects were always fleeting. BT had gone on at great length about 'the World keeping the Wave in balance', or something like that. Sora had listened just long enough to get the basic gist, which had been: Try to make magic last for too long, and it will probably kill you.

But -- his arm didn't actually seem to be injured, and yet _something _had hurt like hell when he'd tried to move. Maybe... maybe the Cobalt Knights knew some tricks that the rest of the World didn't.

Puzzling over this, he examined the writing for a moment longer. Then his eyes widened. _Oh... oh. I don't think that's good._

Among the etched symbols was one he recognised -- and it was that for the element of light.

* * *

_"Why do you keep following me around?"_

_"Me? I am _not _following you."_

_"You sat next to me in class. And across from me at breakfast. And lunch. And now you're here. I thought I told you to go away."_

_"I--uh--" The girl stammered in embarrassment for a few seconds before her shoulders slumped. "All right. I'm kind of following you."_

_"I know that. I just said that, only without the 'kind of'. Why?"_

_"I -- look, I just -- I don't know. It just seems like we kind of... got off on the wrong foot, and I just thought... well... you don't really seem to have a lot of friends, and..."_

_She stiffened. "What, you're feeling sorry for me now?"_

_"N-no, I didn't mean it like that, I just--"_

_"Well, however you meant it, it doesn't matter. People are stupid. I don't _want _friends. And if _you're _so set on being my friend, shouldn't you be stopping to think about what _I_ want?" Her lips twisted into a faint, mocking smile. "Bit of a puzzle, that."_

* * *

"So, Mimiru. Dare I ask why my best student was late for practice?" 

The girl's face turned slightly red, both at the compliment and the rebuke. "Sorry sir. I... had some studying to do. Er -- I got kind of caught up in it, lost track of the time."

"Really?" The swordmaster's voice was amiable. "Well, that's rather good to hear, I suppose, coming from you. What've you been studying?"

"Uh..." Mimiru hesitated. For the life of her, she couldn't recall what that blasted book had been about. "History," she hazarded, trying not to sound uncertain. "Just doing some reading."

"Ah." The man nodded sagely. "What book?"

"I--" She floundered for a moment. "It's, uh. It's, um... oh, what's it called? Can't think of the title. History of the... um... Founding of, er, the Council of..."

He chuckled, not unkindly. "I hate to tell you, Mimiru, but lying is not your strong suit. Any more than history is."

She gave up, shoulders slumping, but grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, Bear."

He tilted his head in acknowledgement, but said nothing more on the subject. Instead he asked, after a moment's silence, "That young woman who's gone missing... she's in your class, isn't she?"

"Uh--" Mimiru blinked, caught off guard. "Oh. Tsu -- Tsukasa? Nn... yeah. Well, sort of."

His eyebrows rose. "Sort of."

"Well, she's -- I mean, we're the same age, we're in the same year, but she's with the mages, you know, and she's..." Mimiru shrugged, a little guiltily. "Well, she's... smart. Good at studying and everything." She shot Bear a brief, self-deprecating grin. "Whereas I'm mostly good at hitting stuff."

He shrugged, and said mildly, "Schoolwork's as much a question of hard work and practice as it is of talent, Mimiru. Very much like swordplay. Very much like most things, actually."

She rolled her eyes, heaving an over-dramatic sigh. "Yeah, yeah. Should've known not to expect any sympathy from you."

"You don't need sympathy, Mimiru," he told her, a little drily. "You need someone to whack you on the side of the head whenever you start making excuses and feeling sorry for yourself. You're a bright girl; you'd be a perfectly good student, if you wanted to be."

The girl skipped to one side, ducking to avoid the good-natured swat Bear had aimed at her ear, and scowled at him. "Well, anyway," she said hastily. "We're -- Tsukasa and I aren't in most of the same actual classes, these days. I, uh, don't... didn't... don't know her all that well, honestly."

"Ah... I see." He nodded.

She shifted uncomfortably, unsure if she had imagined the faintly knowing note in his tone. "You see what?"

"That you don't know her all that well." Bear gave the girl an inquiring look. "Why? Was there something else I should have seen?"

"Huh? N-no." Mimiru groaned inwardly. _Transparent as glass, aren't I? _"You just... said it in a funny tone," she explained lamely. "I thought _you _thought there was something else."

"Ah." He considered this for a moment, and then smiled ruefully. "Well, yes, in fact," he conceded. "Your teachers were under the impression that the two of you were friends, at one time. Or something like friends, at any rate."

"You've been talking to my _teachers_?"

"I do work here, and talking is, in fact, something colleagues do on occasion, Mimiru." There was definitely a dry edge to his voice now. "Some of them, at any rate. And yes, some of your teachers have been a bit worried about you since Tsukasa went missing; they say you've been rather more distracted than usual, the last couple of days. They... thought I might be the best person to talk to you about it, though, as -- generally speaking -- you aren't exactly friends with any of them."

"Oh, _they _put you up to it, huh?" She made a face at him. "Now who's making excuses?"

"Well, all right, I'll confess to a certain amount of concern on my own behalf. Distraction isn't exactly something you want from someone who's waving a heavy sword around, you know -- they might hurt somebody."

"Gee, thanks," she muttered. "Okay. So... yeah, I'm a little worried about her. Not enough to lop somebody's head off by accident, though. I'm not _that _careless. Anyway, Tsukasa's -- well, she's kind of -- weird. She doesn't like people very much. Probably just took off, now that she's allowed to go through the Gate on her own."

In fact Mimiru was well aware that the young mage had stopped paying much attention to what was allowed and what wasn't some years ago, but she wasn't about to tell anyone; it would only get the girl in trouble, if and when the Knights did find her, and Tsukasa had enough trouble to deal with as it was. And it wasn't as if she knew _where _the girl had been in the habit of sneaking off to, she told herself, so she wasn't hiding anything important. Not really. "She's always been inconsiderate, anyhow," she added. "She wouldn't have stopped to think about all the fuss she'd cause, disappearing like this -- and she wouldn't have cared, anyway. She's probably fine."

"Let's hope so," Bear said soberly. "But in the meantime, the Knights aren't having a lot of luck in their search."

"Mm..." Mimiru's momentary flash of ire at her erstwhile classmate evaporated, and she stared down at her feet. "Yeah. I know."

"Which brings me to something else I'd meant to discuss with you, as well. If they don't find her soon, the Knights are going to start calling for volunteers, to help with the search. Nothing dangerous, but -- traveling out to the villages, talking to people, trying to find some lead. You're sixteen now, aren't you?"

"Yeah, last week..." Mimiru brightened. "Hey, that means I'm old enough to help out, doesn't it?"

"Well, to an extent, yes. And with permission from the school."

"...Oh." Her face fell. "There's some kind of catch coming up, isn't there..."

Bear chuckled. "On consideration, your teachers feel it won't make that much difference to your studies if you miss a few days of class. But they'll still want you to make up for it, later on. For the look of the thing, if nothing else."

"All right, all right." Grimacing, she heaved an over-loud sigh. "I'll manage, I guess..."

He smiled quietly. "I'm sure you will."

* * *

_Anger. Shouting voices._

_"Are you _always _like this?"_

_"Like what?"_

_"Selfish. You don't care about anybody_ _else, do you?"_

_"Why should I? None of them care much about me, either."_

_"You don't give them the _chance_!"_

_"They wouldn't care anyway. The ones who say they do... they just want to feel better about themselves. Or look better to other people. Haven't you figured that out by now?" _

The girl shook her head. "That's not true..."

_"Why are _you _still following me around, then? I told you, I don't want you to. But you don't give a damn about that, do you? I bet the teachers think you're just so wonderful, being kind to the little friendless misfit, no?" She shrugged indifferently. "Well, fair enough. They're never going to think much of you for your academic inclinations, so I guess you've got to get by how you can..."_

_She saw the slap coming, but didn't bother trying to duck, and it caught her across the face. It hurt, but so what? She'd been hit harder, more times than she could remember._

_Too many angry voices... make them stop, she was so tired of listening._

_The girl was staring at her, half in hurt shock, half in anger. Her voice, when she spoke, was tight. "You're horrible. You know that?"_

_"Sure. Fine." She shrugged again. "But I'm not wrong, am I?"_

_"You are. It's not... people aren't like that."_

_"No? Maybe not everybody. Fine. Maybe there's somebody, somewhere, who isn't. But most of the world is. So with that in mind -- exactly how long do you think that person'll survive before someone stabs them in the back?"_

* * *

A couple of hours spent pondering the situation, and trying to get something even remotely resembling accurate information out of the villagers and the Cobalts. Nearly six hours for a messenger to get from the village back to the Gate, even riding one of the speediest Grunties on the plane. A couple more hours for said messenger to get in to see Lady Subaru. Another six hours to come back. 

And then what felt like an eternity spent arguing with the local Knights.

And why, oh, why couldn't he have asked Subaru for a warrant of some sort? He'd not wanted to involve her in this any more than he had to; there had been an outside chance that merely invoking her name would have been enough... but it hadn't been, and now the Cobaltswere sending one of their own riders to Mac Anu. So there'd be another thirteen, fourteen hours at least, and Crim just hoped the Lady wouldn't have a change of heart in the interim...

"Kamui won't be back before tomorrow, sir. The Haven, in the village, has decent rooms; you can stay there."

It all added up to far too much time in which things could go wrong. Crim was not, by nature, a worrier, but it would be too easy for some vengeful idiot to decide that one sweep of a blade would solve everyone's problems.

And on that note--

"I want to see the prisoner first."

"Sir, I've told you several times already, that's really not permissible. I can assure you, once we have heard from Mac Anu, we will hand him over, but meanwhile we've only your word that--"

"Only the word," Crim spoke through gritted teeth, "of the former leader of the Crimson Knights." Thankfully, the rift which had opened between himself and Subaru Misono(2) in recent years was not common knowledge in these parts. He'd never have gotten away with this in Mac Anu.

On the other hand, he wouldn't have _needed _to get away with this in Mac Anu. Crim had _seen _the Cobalts execute demon-blood before, on a few occasions, usually for nothing worse than thievery, and it wasn't a sight he cared to see again. The Crimson might have gone downhill a bit in the past few years, yes, but they would have to sink a good way below sea-level before they were that bad.

"I'm sorry, sir, but there are procedures to be followed, here. As soon as--"

"As you've heard back from Mac Anu," Crim echoed wearily. "Look, here's the thing. I _know _you people aren't happy at the thought of being denied first-hand vengeance for your fallen. I can't say I blame you." Well, given the ways in which they went about the matter of vengeance, he could, after a fashion, but this probably wasn't the time to say it. "But I'm supposed to get the kid back to Mac Anu _alive_, and preferably in one piece."

"I assure you, sir, that will be the case--"

"Yes, and I've _only your word _for that, haven't I? What I am trying to get at, here, is that I don't want to come back tomorrow to find out that he's unexpectedly died of injuries which, you will probably claim, he sustained in the fight with your men. So I'd like to see, with my own eyes, that he's not about to fall over dead. You understand me?"

The Knight's face flushed an angry red, but after a moment's consideration he said, grudgingly, "I'll... speak to the commander about it, sir."

-----

_Aw, hell. He really _is _just a kid, isn't he? _Accounts had varied; the Knights in particular had not been eager to admit that one of their number had been slain by a mere child. But the small, skinny boy chained to the cell's far wall did not look much more than nine or ten years old.

Something of this thought must have shown on his face, for the Commander of the Knights, after shooting a sidelong glance at him, said shortly, "Don't let appearances deceive you, sir. The damned thing's not human, it's a monster. It killed one of my best men."

The boy had been staring at the floor, apparently oblivious to their presence, but at this he raised his head. "Oh-hyo -- one of your _best _men?" His voice was hoarse and tired, but it took on a mocking edge. "Aww, thank you. Such a compliment. Really, though, it was nothing... and as for monsters? Pot-meet-kettle, mister. _I'm_ not the one who brought along nine friends to attack somebody half my size."

The Knight's face darkened. "Hold your tongue, demon."

"Hm-mm..." The boy considered this, his brow furrowing. "Would do," he said eventually. "If I could _reach _my tongue. Only I can't, 'cause there's this little problem with these chains, you remember? Tell you what, though -- you let my hands loose, _then _I'd be happy to hold my tongue. Whyever you wanted me to. Can't say it makes much sense to me, but hey, _I'm _just some stupid monster, so what do I know?"

"It means _stop talking,_" the Knight said stiffly.

"Ohh." Exaggerated enlightenment dawned on the boy's face. "Really? You might've said -- funny way to put it. Huh." He shrugged, but gingerly, as though the motion was costing him some pain which he did not want to show. "Well, that makes sense, then. Glad we got that sorted out. So. Who's this guy?" He nodded at Crim, who suddenly found himself subject to an almost worrisomely cynical stare.

After a moment, the boy's crimson eyes narrowed. "Oi -- you're that fellow from Mac Anu, aren't you." It was a statement, not a question. "There's portraits of you over half the city."

Crim blinked. "Uh... yes." It wasn't that much of an exaggeration, in fact -- rather to his chagrin. He hadn't particularly _wanted _his face adorning the walls of every public building in the city, but... he'd been a fairly popular leader, during his tenure as Commander of the Crimson Knights.

The red-eyed gaze grew critical. "Huh. Got to tell you, mister, you don't look much better in real life. And here I always thought it was the painter's fault."

The wanderer snorted at this, one corner of his mouth twisting ruefully upwards, but did not deign to respond. Instead he said only, "Sora, isn't it?"

It was the boy's turn to blink in startlement. "Well, will you look at that -- the monster's got a name. A _repeatable_ name, at that," he added, and a crooked, sardonic smile darted across his face. "How 'bout that? Anyway, yeah, that'd be me."

"Good. The Crimson Knights have sent me to fetch you. They've had people looking for you for months."

For a brief moment, the boy's face went very still as he considered this, but he quickly relaxed. "_Really. _Huh. Well, well." A sudden grin lighting his features, he turned his attention back to the Commander of the Knights. "Aww, and here you were _so _looking forward to seeing me hang, weren't you, or was it going to be burned at the stake? There've been so many threats today, I've lost track... ah, well, but a little town like this wouldn't want to offend Mac Anu, would it? My oh-so-sincerest condolences, sir, really. So!" The mock sympathy faded from his tone as he addressed Crim once again. "When do we leave, huh?"

* * *

_After that she'd simply stopped talking at all, when the girl was present, and at last her would-be 'friend' had given up and left her alone. She'd been glad of that. Of... course she had._

_But the school wasn't all that large, and stories and rumours spread quickly in small communities. The girl was well-liked among her classmates; for a long time afterwards, Tsukasa had been even less popular than usual. Not that it mattered._

_But she did wish she could shake the feeling that everywhere she went, there was always someone, whispering behind her back._

* * *

It was late night when Kamui finally arrived in Mac Anu, and it took her some effort not to shiver as she strode down the city's main street. She was accustomed to Fort Ouph's near-constant daylight; how people stood the chill darkness on such a regular basis, she would never understand. This place was better, at least, than Gadelica, but that wasn't saying much. 

"Who goes th--"

"Kamui Shibayama, of the Cobalt Knights," she snapped at the guards on duty outside the keep's walls. "I've been sent to speak to your ruler." Normally she might have waited until morning, but she was eager to be out of the city, and in a foul temper and no mood to be considerate. The demon had killed one of her friends, and badly injured another -- and now they were expected simply to hand him away at the request of Lady Subaru? _Over. My. Dead. Body. _

She expected some kind of rebuke for her impatience -- in fact, was half hoping for one; it would give her an excuse to shout at somebody -- but there was only a fraction of a second's hesitation before one of the guards said, "Certainly. If you'll follow me, please?"

"Er..." She blinked, momentarily caught off balance. "Of course. Thank you."

She followed the man into the keep, along twisting passageways to a small waiting room, where he stopped. "Milady, I believe, is in her study. If you will wait, please, I will inform her that you are h--"

But another Knight strode into the room even as he spoke, and cut him off. "It is late; I am sure there's no need to disturb Lady Subaru. Return to your post; I will speak to -- Miss Shibayama, is it? -- myself."

Kamui and the guard both spoke up at once. "Sir, my orders--"

"Commander Ginkan, sir, Lady Subaru was very specific that any--"

"It is two o'clock in the morning," the man called Ginkan said coldly. "Lady Subaru is a very busy young woman, and deserves to rest without interruption."

"Sir," the guard began nervously, "I'm fairly certain that in fact, she said that if--"

Ginkan ignored him. "I am her second in command. I can assure you, Miss... it is Shibayama, yes?"

"_Lieutenant _Shibayama, in fact," she said shortly. Strange... she had not given her name but at the gate. Either he had been nearby and heard, or someone had been _very_ quick to inform him...

His faint smile set her teeth on edge. "My apologies. I can assure you, Lieutenant Shibayama, that I am entirely authorised to speak on the Lady's behalf. What you would say to her, you may say to me." He glanced back to the other guard, and snapped, "You are dismissed -- return to your post."

The guard hesitated a moment longer before bowing deeply, turning around and walking away.

"Now then, Lieutenant," Ginkan said, his tone suddenly courteous. "Tell me -- what can I do for you?"

* * *

Notes: 

(1) I don't know if there's anything canon that specifies Sora's Wave element, but in .hack//fragment it's darkness -- which is appropriate, anyway, so I'm going with that. Therefore, he would indeed be weak against light spells. Not to this extent, no, but I'm messing with the magic system a bit... (shifty eyes) Anyway, the kid's fast enough to dodge the Guardian and escape angry dragons, and strong enough to kill heavily-armed Cobalt Knights despite being injured and outnumbered -- he's gotta have _some _weakness.

(2) In the canon .hack universe, Subaru's real name is Misono Mariko -- Misono being her family name. Hence her last name here.

* * *

A/N: Whew... this blasted chapter's finally _finished. _I had a heck of a time trying to get it written -- there wound up being four drafts, which were saved under the titles of Take One, Take Two, Take Three, and Take This Bloody Chapter and Throw It Out A Window, Please. The last one's the one which ultimately survived...I'm still not entirely happy with it, but I decided that if I waited to post until I had something with which I _was _happy, we'd be here 'til Doomsday. 

Anyway, constructive criticism would be very welcome, if anyone's got any. :) Or any opinion at all, really, good or bad. Let me know what you think, please! Even if it's nothing more than "Too -- damned -- _long..._" :P


	4. Three: Confusion All 'Round

Disclaimer: .hack and its characters belong to Bandai and CyberConnect 2, and are used here without permission.

A/N: Whew. Er... apologies for the long delay. Summer vacation has not proven nearly as conducive to fanfic-writing as I had hoped. I'm back now, though. Many thanks for the very kind reviews on the last chapter.

* * *

Three: _Confusion All 'Round_

* * *

"So." Ginkan's brows rose. "What brings a messenger of the Cobalts to our city on such short notice?"

Kamui hesitated. None of this, so far, had been _right. _Such fuss by Mac Anu, over a worthless little demon pickpocket. The fellow who had come to request its release did, indeed, appear to be the Red Lightning -- several Cobalts had recognised him -- but even so, he was not a member of the Crimson Knighthood anymore, so why should they have sent _him _after the creature?

And he had been adamant that Subaru was the one to whom Kamui should speak. She wasn't overly concerned about following his orders, frankly, but that one had been backed up, more or less, by her commander's curt "Well, do as he says." But Ginkan wasLady Subaru's right-hand man; surely, no matter how deeply this strange business was shrouded in secrecy, he would know of it.

_If _it really was the business of the Crimson Knights at all.

And if not...

_Are we to give up a murderer merely on a whim of Mac Anu's ruler, then?_

After a few seconds of internal conflict she said, slowly, "We've had an... odd visitor, sir, in my village. He claims to speak for the Crimson Knights..."

She worked her way through the story as succinctly as possible, Ginkan listening in frowning silence. Kamui found herself subtly encouraged by the frown; it might have been wishful thinking on her part, but the expression seemed to have a faintly puzzled air about it, as if the man had not expected to hear any of this and was not quite sure what to make of it.

He remained quiet for a short time after she finished; Kamui tried not to let her impatience show as she waited. _Look, it's very simple_, she thought_. All you have to do is say 'No, I know nothing of this; the man's an imposter of some sort. A demon himself, perhaps, creating some sort of illusion -- unusual, but not unheard of. Arrest him. As for the killer, do with it what you will.'_

Instead he said, shortly, "This demon. What is its name?"

_What? No, no. _Her heart sank. _That wasn't the script..._ "It calls itself Sora, or some such." Who cared what a monster was called? It was only trying to fool people into thinking it was human, and she wasn't going to fall for that. She'd seen what happened to those who did.

"Describe him."

Sighing inwardly, she held one hand out, somewhat below shoulder height. "About so tall. Red eyes; otherwise it looks like a skinny little human boy of ten or so." She was damned if she was going to call the creature _him. _"Green hair, about shoulder-length. Oh, and it's got a scar under one eye... the left eye." She shrugged. "That enough, sir?"

"Yes. Thank you." His face was expressionless. "We... have indeed been seeking the creature for some time. The Crimson Knights would consider it a great favour, were you to hand him over."

By that time Kamui was more or less expecting the answer, but nonetheless she groaned inwardly. _No. Damnit, damnit. _"What's it done to you?"

"That is none of your concern."

_Like hell it's not. _"Meaning no disrespect -- _sir _-- a Knight's dead. A friend of mine, at that." She swallowed. Grief hadn't really sunk in yet, but it would eventually, she knew, and she wasn't looking forward to that. "If we're to give up his murderer at a simple request, I hope you'll understand when I say I think that's _very _much my concern. My fellow Knights are agreed on that, I can assure you."

Ginkan's tone was grave. "My condolences, lieutenant. But I hope you will understand when I say that this is not something of which I am free to speak. I can assure you, the matter is one of great importance, but... it is not widely known even to the Crimson Knighthood. I apologise, but I will say nothing further on the subject."

She bit back a tired, exasperated sigh. None of this was right, or even anywhere close to it, but by many accounts this man practically ruled the city. Not someone to argue with, therefore. "Yes, sir," she said grudgingly.

"Good." He smiled faintly. "Well, then. It is late, and you have ridden far; I expect you will be waiting until morning to return home? You may stay the night in the keep, if you wish."

"Thank you, no." It was tempting; she was exhausted, truth be told. But if she slept now, the world could only look worse when she woke. Right now she was angry, and that was -- for the time -- keeping her going. If she stopped to rest, though, she wasn't sure she'd be able to get moving again."I'll travel back tonight. Rather get the ride over with."

He merely shrugged. "As you will. Do not let me keep you, then -- have a good journey home, Lieutenant Shibayama."

* * *

For a time after the young woman had left, Ginkan remained where he was, lost in silent, puzzled thought.

Certain of the Crimson Knights had, in fact, been hunting the demon-boy called Sora for some time now, but they had been doing so very quietly. Quietly enough, in fact, that -- Ginkan had _thought _-- the subject had been kept from Lady Subaru's ears.

A few steps had been taken of which she probably would not have approved. They'd been _necessary _steps, as there seemed no other way to find the accursed creature, but they would undoubtedly have led to arguments had she heard of them, and Ginkan disliked arguing with the Lady. She already had more than enough to worry about on a daily basis; putting any further burden on her shoulders always seemed unfair. Best to deal with problems quietly, therefore.

And yet -- somehow -- she _must _have learned of the matter, if she had sent Crim after the boy. That, he could not understand at all. Why would she have done such a thing? Why had she said nothing to him...?

He shook his head, attempting to dislodge his confusion.The thing he ought to be thinking of now was what to say to her. The question of why _she'd _handled the matter so, he glumly suspected, would soon be secondary to the problem of explaining his own actions.

Come morning, he hoped that one would look less complicated, but, somehow, he rather doubted it.

* * *

Kamui left the keep in no better temper than that in which she'd entered, but with a good deal more confusion raging in her head.

Ginkan had not known of this. She was almost certain of that; he'd listened silently, but with... what? A look on his face, some odd edge to his manner, an indefinable air about him which suggested all of this was utterly unexpected news to him.

_A lot of good that is. _The whole thing _felt _wrong, she _knew _it was wrong; he might have known the name of Sora, but he hadn't quite expected to hear it from Kamui's lips.

_And if I go back and say all of this, the commander'll say "And have you anything to _support _this feeling?" _She hadn't, of course. Her word, against Ginkan's, would be quickly dismissed as wishful thinking -- youthful anger at best, perhaps, wanting only to get its own way.

_And in truth, are you so sure it isn't?_

So what was she to do? Say nothing? Something was wrong with all of this, had been from the start. _Someone _ought to look at it a little more closely.

Well. She had a long way to travel; time enough to think on the road. Perhaps, with any luck, she might have her thoughts in order by the time she made it home.

_Not, _she reflected bleakly, _that this has been my day for luck._

Over the clamoring of her thoughts, she barely noticed when a man stepped out of the shadows lining the street, and so she almost jumped in startlement when he spoke. "Ah, there you are -- Kamui, isn't it? One of the guards on the Gate told me you'd come through."

In the dim light it took her a moment to recognise the unexpected figure, but when she did, she stared. "_Sir? _W-what are you--"

"All in good time, lieutenant. A word with you, please..."

* * *

Sora stared at the far wall of his cell, and tried to think.

That was proving a difficult task. There was a limit, he felt, to how much time a person could reasonably be expected to stand in one place and stare at a wall, and in his case this limit was around the five-minute mark. Near as he could tell, however, he'd now been here for the better part of a day.

He winced, trying to shift position without setting off the thrice-blasted spells that still held him in place. Not, he reflected, that it made all that much difference at this point. Even discounting his injuries, and the hours of sheer nightmarish boredom, simply trying to hold still for so long had not been a lot of fun; his muscles ached with the effort. _Y'know, they could have just _told _me to stay put..._

_Well, okay, not that I'd have paid any attention, but _they _don't know that. I mean, here they've got this poor little homeless kid. Already injured. Barely staying on his feet, in fact -- and, sheesh, I can't imagine why, he only got nearly eaten by a bloody _dragon _-- er... never-you-mind why. Looks like he prob'ly hasn't eaten in days, reduced to petty thievery to survive, ekcetera, ekcetera. And what do they do? They attack him. With _swords_. And stupid, stupid, stupid light spells. _

The boy made a disgruntled face at the wall. _I would've _won, _too, if not for the spell. _Which fact, he had to admit, couldn't really have helped the helpless-little-kid image very much.

Well, in any event, that probably didn't matter now. Apparently, he was getting out of here. He had to admit, he was kind of confused about that.

It wasn't that he was _surprised _that the Crimson Knights had sent someone after him. Not surprised as such. The last time he'd been in Mac Anu he had gotten bored and gone looking for ways to amuse himself, and the results had been fairly spectacular even if he did say so himself.

So, no, not surprising that they should want to have a word with him. Slightly more surprising that they should have _found _him, though. Or even worked out, with any degree of certainty, who he was. Sora hadn't thought he'd left any witnesses alive. Still, there were ways to find things out without seeing them firsthand. Right at the moment, he had more important things to worry about than _how _-- or at least more important than that particular _how. How do I turn this to my advantage, _now, that was a much more interesting question.

They'd be traveling to the Gate on foot. All other options involved riding grunties, but they were particular creatures, choosy about whom they carried. Sora had never met one yet that would willingly come within fifty feet of him. If Crim had had one of his own, he might have been able to talk it into putting up with a demon for a few hours, but he didn't, and the Knights weren't about to lend any to the cause.

This was absolutely fine with Sora. If he was to walk so far, he had to be _able _to walk so far, which meant that Crim had gotten rather abrupt with the commander on the subject of sending a healer round to patch up the boy's injuries. It also meant that he'd get rid of these enchanted chains. The importance of that one, Sora thought, really couldn't be stressed enough.

Of course, there was a difference between being able to walk and being able to make a successful break for freedom. And even if he managed the latter, he had nowhere to go but to the Gate. Which the Cobalts guarded pretty much all the time. Sora didn't really feel like staying in hiding long enough for them to forget his face. That might be a while.

On the other hand, if he waited around until Crim and any other guards had gotten him as far as Fort Ouph proper...

_Then _he might have a shot at getting away. Most people found Gate travel slightly disorienting; for a brief moment or two after stepping back onto solid ground, they'd be off-balance. Sora was no different, granted, but if he was prepared, he _might _be able to get back through the Gate as soon as they were through, and then he'd be happily on his way to Gadelica or somewhere before anyone else had gotten past "Wait, what the--?"

All right, so it would require very careful timing, but Sora knew he was quick, and it probably wouldn't be a move anyone was expecting. He didn't think they'd realised he had come through Chaos on his own; navigation wasn't a common skill among grown-ups, let alone ten... ish... year-olds. And once he was through the Gate, tracking him wouldn't be possible. If they wanted to find him they'd have to split up and head to different planes, and by the time they'd worked out who was going where, Sora could be wellout of sight.

Of course, he _could _head back to his home city; the Knights didn't even know that place existed, let alone how to get there. That would probably be more trouble than it was worth, though. Sora _liked _trouble, ordinarily, but he had to admit there was such a thing as too much of it, and anyway, trouble was only fun when he was causing it for other people. If he went back home it would probably be the other way around; he'd been away more than two years now, but some his old... friends... had even longer memories than the Cobalt Knights did.

No, Gadelica was probably a safer bet. Of course, as the one Gate City in which nobody bothered much about demon-kin as long as they didn't kill anyone, it was also the most obvious place for him to go, and certainly the first place the Cobalts would think to look. On the other hand, it was also one of the few places in the World where the Cobalts and their views were not entirely popular. They wouldn't simply be allowed to barge in.

On the _other _other hand, he'd be bound to cause some comment himself. The Cobalts might be stupid enough to take these bloody chains off of him, but it was probably too much to hope that they'd leave him entirely unbound. Wandering into Carmina Gadelica with his hands cuffed behind his back would probably require some explanation.

On the other-to-the-third hand, though, some people would believe anythingIt oughtn't be too difficult to convince someone that _he'd _just been minding his own business when the Cobalts had attacked him. It was true, anyway. Well, almost true. Nearly.

All right, nearly almost _half _true, but still, close enough.

It would work. It was _bound _to work. He'd manage it. Somehow.

Sure.

Piece of cake.

* * *

It was early the next day, only a couple of hours past the end of Fort Ouph plane's brief nighttime, that Crim, for want of anything better to do, wandered back to the Cobalt garrison.

He nodded amiably to the guard standing outside its gates. "The messenger back from Mac Anu yet?"

"N-no, sir."

"Ah, well, then." Without invitation, he settled himself on the low wall which ran along the road to the garrison. "I'll wait here, shall I?"

The young guard hesitated. Strictly speaking, loitering outside the gates was discouraged, but he was loathe to mention this to the one-time leader of the Crimson Knights. That was not someone with whom he was being paid enough to argue. Nonetheless, he made a half-hearted attempt. "It will likely be several hours yet, sir. No doubt she stayed the night in the city; it's a long journey, after all."

Crim heard the hint, and did not take it. "It's a nice day. I don't mind waiting."

"Yes, sir," the guard answered reluctantly.

It was in fact only a few minutes later, however, that a grunty's heavy footfalls were heard plodding up the road, and Kamui came into view. The grunty looked exhausted; Kamui must have stopped in Mac Anu for almost no time at all, to be back so quickly, and even then she must have insisted on a fairly quick pace the entire way. Crim's eyebrows rose at the glare it sent her from behind her back after she dismounted. One grunty would be looking for a new rider soon, if the young woman wasn't careful; they were loyal and devoted creatures, yes, but they would only put up with just so much, and by the looks this one had had nearly enough.

At the sight of Crim, Kamui's face contorted into an annoyed scowl to equal that on the face of her mount. Crim, privately hoping that her annoyance was a good sign, returned a blank, friendly smile. "Welcome back. You made good time." To the disgruntled grunty, he added as an aside, "My thanks for your haste." Its only response was a vaguely scornful sound somewhere between a _harrumph _and a snort, but its expression became somewhat more conciliatory. "What word from Lady Subaru?"

He was not disappointed. Still glowering, she bit out the words, "Congratulations. The demon goes to Mac Anu."

* * *

A/N: As always, comments, constructive criticism, and basically anything else is welcome. 'Pologies again for the long wait. Tsukasa, Mimiru & company will be back for the next chapter -- which I _swear_ will be out more quickly than this one was.


	5. Four: Then Again, Maybe Not

Disclaimer: .hack and its characters belong to Bandai and CyberConnect 2, and are used here without permission.

A/N: Big, big thanks to Sargent Snarky for her kind review on the previous chapter.

* * *

Four_: Then Again, Maybe Not_

* * *

Subaru woke with a start to see early morning light streaming through the window of her study. Sometime around midnight she'd fallen asleep in her armchair, lost in thought as she stared at the remnants of the fire flickering on the hearth. No more than a few feebly glowing embers remained, now.

_No messengers from Fort Ouph last night, then. _She had to admit, privately, that she was relieved about that. She trusted Crim, but... he was impulsive, to say the least. She wasn't at all sure that she ought to have agreed to go along with his odd plan, not without knowing rather more of the story... though a small, treacherous thought whispered that by the time she'd heard _more of the story, _it might already have ended in the boy's death.

No, she'd... she'd done the right thing, she told herself firmly. She must have. Crim might leap before he looked, at times, but even so, she'd never seen him lose his footing upon landing -- his judgment was good.

Still, she would be just as glad not to be involved too closely in the matter, if he could manage without her. She was a terrible liar, she knew; on the rare occasions she tried, she always _worried _too much, and that came out in her voice. In truth, she'd spent all of the past evening worrying over what to say, should she be confronted about Crim's actions. She'd never really come to a solid conclusion on the subject, either.

Yes -- better for all concerned if Crim dealt with this on his own.

There was a tentative tap at the door. She leapt to her feet, startled, and peered in the mirror over the fireplace, hastily smoothing down stray strands of hair in the hopes of looking as though she had awoken more than five minutes previously. Having done the best she could, she called, "Come in."

The door opened. Ginkan was standing there, his face slightly pale. "M-milady Subaru." He bowed deeply; she wished she could stop him doing that every time he saw her, but she'd given up on it some years ago.

"Ginkan! Come in. Is something the matter?"

"I -- there -- that is to say -- I am sorry to disturb you, but I... wished to speak with you at the earliest possible moment."

"What is it?" she asked, now alarmed. Ginkan rarely looked seriously worried about anything, but he did now.

"There was..." He hesitated, choosing his words carefully. "We had a visitor last night, milady. A young woman, a messenger from the Cobalt Knights."

Subaru's stomach twisted into a knot. _Ginkan wasn't supposed to hear of this. _"We-- we did? You spoke with her?"

Ginkan's expression grew uncomfortable. "She asked to see you, milady, but it was late, and I did not wish to disturb your rest."

"What did she say?"

"She came to ask confirmation of a request that the Cobalt Knights had received -- that they hand over a demon they had taken prisoner. Milady--"

"_What did you tell her?_" She could not quite keep the urgency from her tone. "Is she still here? I--"

He blinked at this; for a brief moment he looked nonplussed. "I offered her lodging in the keep for the night, but she was in a hurry to be back. I told her to hand the creature over, of course."

"You--" Subaru stared at him. "You _did?_"

Now he definitely looked puzzled. "Should I not have, milady?"

"What? No! I -- that is--" She let out a shaky breath she had not realised she was holding. "I -- I feared you would not. Thank you, Ginkan. I should not have tried to keep the matter secret from you; I am sorry."

He considered this, and then said slowly, "You are welcome, of course, milady, and your apology accepted. But may I ask for an explanation?"

"Yes." She swallowed. "Of course. It was at Crim's request, you see..."

She laid the story out as briefly as she could, trying not to feel like a child caught misbehaving. When at last she had finished, Ginkan said only, slowly, "I... see."

"Thank you for telling the messenger as you did," she added hesitantly.

Once again he seemed to be choosing his words carefully; she wondered at that, but was too relieved that an argument had been avoided to give it much thought. "I did not know the contents of Crim's letter to you, milady, of course, but when the messenger spoke his name... I assumed that this was the matter of which he had written, and I knew you had said you would do what you could. I... trust your judgment, milady, always."

"Thank you," she said quietly.

"You are most welcome, milady. Now, there are other matters to which I must attend, if I may?"

She nodded.

"Then good morning to you." He swept her another bow, and then disappeared out the door.

* * *

Crim was pretty sure that he had, at some point, had a good reason for going to all this trouble.

He could not, however, bring it to mind at present. It might have been all right if he'd only been able to persuade the Cobalt Knights that he could handle the prisoner on his own. In that case he might have been able to explain things, make the boy see that he bore him no ill will. But as it was, the Cobalts had decided that if they were to give up a murderer to Mac Anu, they were going to see that he _got _to Mac Anu, and Crim knew he would only have made them more suspicious than they already were had he tried to refuse their assistance. It was not an unreasonable request on their part, given how much damage the boy had done already.

And it _still _might have been all right… if only Kamui Shibayama had not, somehow, persuaded her commander that she ought to be among the demon-boy's guard. Something wasn't right, there: the young woman was practically dead on her feet after having made the journey once already, and given that there were plenty of others far better rested, there had been no obvious and sensible reason for her not to remain behind. But the commander had been insistent.

_Well, I'm not the only one who can refuse to explain myself, _Crim thought ruefully. _You get what you give, huh? _He wished she hadn't come, though. The other two who had joined him were stolid and largely silent and betrayed about as much emotion as rocks, but Kamui was boiling over with anger and practically exploded at the slightest annoyance, and Sora, unfortunately, was very well aware of this. And wasn't helping. At all.

Since they'd set foot on the road, he had been chattering away cheerfully and _incessantly_, about, it appeared, absolutely anything that came into his head.It was a nice day, didn't everyone think, and weren't they glad that _he'd _come along so that they had an excuse to spend such a nice day out in the fresh air and sunshine and open countryside, rather than stay back in that boring little town beating up prisoners or however they normally passed the time?

And it would be fun to go through Fort Ouph, wouldn't it, and was there any chance they could stay for a few hours before going on to Mac Anu, because there was this _really _good restaurant there, he couldn't remember the name right now but it was right on the Edge, which meant you could watch the clouds go past almost underneath your feet while you ate, which was pretty neat.

And, incidentally, while he was on that subject, was it true that when people died in the Fort, their bodies were dumped over the Edge, like he'd heard? Because he knew that scholars thought that the Fort was floating over an endless amount of empty space, but how did they really _know _there wasn't anything down there? And if they were wrong, wouldn't it be a bit surprising for the people living _waaay _down below, if every so often a dead body came crashing through the roof… although he supposed they'd just move someplace else, eventually, unless maybe they were cannibals, in which case perhaps they wouldn't mind so much.

And wasn't that a very interesting-looking plant they'd just walked past, and did anyone know what it was called? And did that cloud over there look sort of like a dragon to anybody else, or was it just him?

…And on. And on. And on.

And _on._

Eventually Kamui had hit him. It hadn't had quite the effect she'd intended, however. Admittedly Sora had, at that point, stopped talking, but only because his teeth had lodged in her hand.

Thankfully, Crim had managed to get the two of them separated before anyone suffered serious harm -- and the Cobalt mage accompanying them, though not a healer by trade, had managed to stop Kamui's hand from bleeding -- but still... only two hours on the road, and already it had been a long, long day--

"Hey, look at that boulder over there. Can we go climb it? I bet you can see all the way to--"

"No."

"Oh, don't you like heights? Okay. Can _I _go climb up it?"

"_No_."

"Aww, you're no fun," the boy sulked. "How 'bout--"

"Listen, kiddo," Crim interrupted; this was the fifth variant on _this _particular exchange that they'd had so far. "For the last. Gods. Damned. Time. _You_ are not going anywhere, except to Mac Anu."

"Hey, language, la-n-gu-a-ge." Sora drew the word out in a sing-song tone, giving it several more syllables than should by rights have been possible. "That any way to talk in front of the Cobalts? They're picky about that stuff. Oi, now I come to think of it--" He rounded on Kamui. "I got a thrashing yesterday, just for swearing at one of you, why doesn't _he_? No fair."

Her lip curled into a sneer. "You'll get another pretty soon, demon, if you don't shut up."

"Ha! Like to see you try. How's your hand doing?" Sora smirked, the mocking sing-song returning to his voice. "Mister Cri-im, that nasty ol' woman's threatening me again, make her sto-op... And that's half-demon to you, thank you," he corrected Kamui primly, resuming a more normal tone. "Well, prob'ly. Quarter, half... something like that, if I had to guess, which I do, 'cause do I look like I ever met my parents? And you people might've taken that into consideration, I mean, sheesh. Here's this poor, homeless, starving little kid, living on the streets, reduced to thievery just to stay alive, and he gets attacked by--"

"Sora?" Crim interrupted hastily, before Kamui's dour glare and clenched fists could turn into anything more openly violent.

"Yup?"

"You heard the nice young lady who hasn't killed you yet. Shush."

"Hey, I just asked a perf'cly reasonable question, and she practically bit my head off. How come _I'm_ the one who's got to be quiet?"

Two hours, this had been going on now. Frankly, Crim was only barely resisting the urge to chuck both Sora _and _Kamui off the nearest handy cliff and have done with--

"Are we there yet?"

All right, or maybe just Sora.

* * *

It was a tired, disgruntled and ever so slightly worried Sora who finally arrived in Mac Anu, two days later.

His fears about the Cobalts' precautions had proven more than justified. They had replaced the cuffs he'd worn in his cell with silly, flimsy little scraps of paper bearing more of the Knights' odd variety of mage-writing. The things should, in theory, have torn off with a few seconds' work.

This they had not done.

What they _had _done, and were continuing to do, was sap at his strength, making his limbs feel as if they were dragging heavy weights along with them. And though they didn't sting whenever he tried to move, like the ones in his cell had done, they did if he tried to move too _quickly_. In Sora's book there was no such thing as fighting fair,but even so, he considered that this was about as close to cheating as anything he'd ever seen.

Crim had actually been bizarrely decent about the matter, stopping frequently to let him rest. Kamui had been less so. At least she'd grown sensibly wary of Sora since he had tried to bite her hand off, but said wariness had manifested itself in a tendency to wear chain-mail gauntlets, which he was fairly certain his teeth wouldn't survive if he tried to bite her again. Unfortunately, she'd also worked out that while he was quick enough to dodge most of the blows she aimed at him, the line between being quick enough to duck and being quick enough to set off the enchantments binding him was so fine as to be invisible. She'd found this rather more amusing than Sora had, and had pounced on any excuse to take advantage of it.

Other than all of _that_, the journey had been fine -- entertaining, even -- right up until they'd reached the Gate to Fort Ouph, at which point it had turned out that Crim was not entirely stupid. They'd been just about to step through the Gate when he had stopped, given Sora a long, careful stare, turned to one of the Gate guards and said, "Excuse me -- have you got any rope?"

Sora had kicked, hit, and generally refused to hold still, but eventually Crim had threatened to knock him unconscious and drag him the rest of the way, and since at that point the Knights' enchantments had been pretty close to knocking him out anyway, he'd sullenly given in. So now his hands were tied behind his back, and his feet were tied together. He could still walk, if he took short steps, but if he tried to run he'd trip himself up and, given how his luck had been going, would probably break his neck. He had protested that the Knights' spells were surely enough to keep him from getting away; Crim had very calmly replied that they hadn't been enough to slow him down a few minutes earlier, and Sora, reluctantly, had had to concede the point.

_Well, face it. You _knew _you didn't have a hope in hell of getting away from them, not really. Not unless they were all completely incompetent. _Though he didn't like to admit it, he knew he'd made most of his escape plans simply in an effort to keep himself from thinking about what the Crimson Knights were going to do to him. He tried consoling himself with the thought that at the very least, they had to be better than the Cobalts, but this invariably ended _Yeah, but so was that dragon I met last week, and it tried to eat me alive. Besides, I've done a lot worse to the Crimsons than I have to the Cobalts, so things may sort of even out. _

He _was_ pretty sure that Mac Anu had some laws somewhere about not torturing little kids to death. He just wished he was as sure that this protection extended to thieving, murderous little demon-kids. He wasn't about to ask, though, not with Kamui listening; she would find the prospect far too entertaining. So he trudged along the city streets in more-or-less silence, for once too tired and preoccupied with his thoughts to bother with trying to annoy anyone.

One odd thing had happened shortly after they came into the city, though: Crim had made an attempt to get rid of the Cobalts, though he hadn't pressed the issue when they insisted on staying. Sora had to wonder about that. _All right, so I probably can't go anywhere right at this instant, but just you give me a few minutes to get these cords loosened up... _The man had been paranoid enough up to now; surely he _had _to realise that even now, it wouldn't be a good idea to relax his guard.

As it was, though, there wasn't a lot Sora could do, and so at last they arrived, uneventfully, at the walls of the keep. The boy mustered up the most cheerful farewell to Kamui that he could presently manage, and had the minor satisfaction of seeing her fists clench ever-so-slightly as she glowered at him. And then Crim was ushering him through the gates, and then the gates were clanging shut behind him...

He tried to ignore the uneasiness that had been gradually settling in his stomach over the last few hours, and the thought that went with it: _I'm dead, aren't I._

When they were a few steps down the path, however, Crim stopped and looked over his shoulder for a moment as if waiting for something. Sora, puzzled, followed his gaze. Kamui and her fellow Knights were just visible through the ironwork, walking away down the cobbled street.

After watching them for a few seconds, the man blew out a breath that sounded almost relieved. "All right." Sora looked up at him curiously -- something in his tone had changed.

Crim nodded to him. "All right," he repeated. "There's a few things we ought to get sorted out now, I think, but first -- here. Turn around, I'll untie your hands."

Sora blinked in surprise at this, and then, a little sheepishly, held up his hands for display. One wrist was still tangled in the thick cord, but he'd at last succeeded in working the other loose just a few seconds ago. "Um. Beat you to it."

The man shook his head wearily, and muttered, sounding more exasperated than angry, "_Why_ am I not surprised? Well… anyway. There's a bench over there. How 'bout you sit down for a few minutes? I've, ah… got a certain amount of explaining to do."

Five minutes later, Sora was doubled over and laughing so hard that he could barely breathe. "You," he gasped, when at last he could speak again, "have _got _to be joking. You're telling me this whole thing was a -- a _bluff?_"

Crim coughed. "Well, pretty much. Yeah."

A lot of questions were occurring to Sora at the moment, but one in particular stood out among the crowd, and really, it pretty much summarised all the others.

"_Why?_"

Crim shrugged. "Not all of us like the way the Cobalt Knights do things. And _I _don't just stand by and watch, when I see things I don't like."

The boy shook his head in disbelief. "You are out of your bloody mind. You realise this?"

"And you're still alive," Crim said sharply. "You realise _that? _A thank-you would not be out of order, here."

"Oh, yeah." Sora was still chuckling. "Thanks. Really, honest. You… you have no idea." _About a whole heck of a lot of things, apparently. Well, hey -- what you don't know won't hurt you. _With a sudden surge of energy he pushed himself to his feet, and went on brightly, "Anyway, I guess I'll be going, then -- don't want to trouble you any longer, you know -- thanks again..." He didn't have a whole lot of hope that it would actually work, but, feeling that anyone stupid enough to rescue him _might _just be stupid enough to fall for this as well, he turned around and started to stride briskly away. He'd gotten his feet untied while Crim was explaining the situation to him; the Cobalts' enchantments still dragged at his limbs, unfortunately, but he thought he would be able to keep up a decent pace at least until he was out of sight, at which point it shouldn't matter so much if he fell over.

He didn't get more than two steps before Crim's hand latched onto his collar, and the man said grimly, "Nice try, kiddo. Get back here."

Sora glanced over his shoulder and grinned ruefully, trying his best to look suitably chagrined and -- more importantly -- like someone upon whom it would be perfectly safe for Crim to turn his back for, say, five minutes. "Figured it was worth a shot."

"Yeah, well." Crim returned the grin, but Sora got the uneasy impression that the man wasn't falling for it; this impression was strengthened when the grip on the back of his neck redoubled. "Don't push your luck. Now get back here, sit down, and don't make me tie your damned feet together again, understood?"

Sora considered this. He did not, right now, really want to gamble on the assumption that just because Crim didn't know who he was, none of the Crimson Knights did either, and as such most of his instincts were screaming at him to run as soon as he got the chance. A few more sensible of his instincts, however, were voicing the opinion that yes, he _could _try to run... but if he did, would he please give them plenty of time to get far, far away, first, because they didn't really want to be stuck in his body when the Cobalts' enchantments went off yet again, thank-you-very-much. He had to admit, he was starting to think that the latter crowd had the right idea. The last few days had been _very _long ones.

"'L right, all right," he grumbled. "Sheesh. No need to be so cranky about it." He fell sullenly back onto the bench, and tried to ignore how good it felt to be off his feet. Maybe it really wasn't _that _likely that any of the Crimsons would recognise him. Maybe he'd just stick around for a few hours...

"_Thank _you. Now--"

But a soft, feminine voice prevented him from saying more. "Crim! Th-there you are. I -- one of the guards on the gate told me that you had arrived."

The speaker was a young woman, slender and pretty, her face framed by teal-coloured hair; Sora had never seen her in person before, but there were enough portraits of her about that she was easily recognisable as the city's ruler.

The exasperation faded quickly from Crim's face, Sora noted in mild amusement, before the man got to his feet and turned to face the newcomer. "Subaru," he said warmly, and bowed. "It's good to see you. You're looking well."

"Thank you." There was an oddly stiff note to her voice, but it faded as she turned to Sora. "And you must be Mr. Sora," she said politely.

Sora was struck with a momentary coughing fit. "_Mister _Sora?" he repeated incredulously, and glanced towards Crim, who gave him a reproving look. "Uh -- are you sure we're all speaking the same language, here?"

"Was I mistaken?" Subaru asked.

His lips twitched. "Uh... no. No. Not -- not _mistaken _as such, Lady. It's, um, not what people normally call me, 's all." As an afterthought, he added, "On the other hand, mostly people call me _you little bastard, _so I'll grant you it's a step up."

Subaru's brows rose slightly, but she said only, "I... see."

"Anyway, yeah, that's me. Hi." He found himself a little bit cheered by the sight of her. Of course, he knew as well as anyone that appearances could be deceiving, but... there was an indefinable air of gullibility about the young woman, and from all he'd ever heard of her, he doubted that it was an affectation. _Good. Gullible is _good. _I _like_ gullible. _Suddenly feeling that it might not hurt to appear at least vaguely polite, he hopped to his feet and, rather belatedly, bowed.

Crim gave him a dubious look at these newfound good manners, but the Lady only smiled. "No need for that," she said gently. "Do come inside, both of you -- are you hungry? I shall ask someone to send food up from the kitchen, if you like."

_That does it -- getting the heck out of here can definitely wait. _A free meal was not to be passed up. "Yes, please," Sora said hastily, before Crim had even opened his mouth to accept or reject the offer. No need to fake the slight urgency in his tone -- he had gone without food plenty of times before, but there had been even less of it than usual over the last several days.

"Well, then." Subaru looked him up and down for a moment, as if only now really seeing him. Sora did his best to look pitiful, but not a lot of work was needed there, either. He was skinny even at the best of times, his clothes had definitely seen better days, and he felt a sudden faint spark of gratitude towards Kamui for leaving him with a couple of nicely dramatic, albeit painful, bruises. Shame there wasn't some half-dried blood streaked down the side of his face, he thought critically, but that couldn't be helped now; his shirt was hiding what blood there actually _was_, which seemed a complete and utter waste of good drama if ever there was one. Ah, well -- even without it, he ought still to be a sight pathetic enough to win any naïve idiot's sympathy. And there were so very, very many naïve idiots in the world...

Like, for example, the one standing five feet away from him right now -- for indeed, much to Sora's satisfaction, Subaru's gaze softened instantly. "Of course. Come with me -- I shall send someone at once."

Sora trailed a short distance behind her and Crim as they climbed the short flight of steps atop which the building's entrance sat. He had no intention of abandoning good food, but the Lady and her former second-in-command seemed to be rather preoccupied with the awkward silence that had quickly settled between the two of them, and Sora _was _curious to see how far behind them he could lag before they noticed his absence.

As he was following them through the arched entryway, a young woman with dark brown hair, tan skin, and a distracted look about her came hurrying out and nearly walked directly into Lady Subaru. She looked up just in time, however, and froze, wide-eyed, upon finding herself face-to-face with the ruler of the city.

Subaru inclined her head slightly in greeting; the action seemed to shake the girl back into life. "Mi-milady!" she stammered, and gave a quick, nervous bow. "I -- I'm sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going--"

"Never mind," Subaru said, giving the girl a faint, reassuring smile. "No harm done."

"Uh -- right. I -- uh -- a-apologies again, milady." The girl, her face by now rather red, hopped awkwardly to one side to put herself out of Subaru's way, giving another uncertain half-bow as she waved for the Lady to go by. When Subaru and Crim were both safely past her by several feet, she began to head out the door again, but still craned her head around to watch, wide-eyed, as they walked away.

It was thus that, just as she reached the top of the steps, she almost ran over Sora. He skipped out of her way easily, but, on general principles, stuck his foot out as she went past.

"_AUGH!_"

By the time Crim and Subaru came hurrying back to investigate the scream and the series of quick _thuds _which had followed it, the shaken girl was slowly picking herself up from the foot of the steps, where she had landed face-first.

Subaru dashed down the steps to help her. "Are you all right?"

Crim gave Sora a suspicious, narrow-eyed stare; he returned a shrug and a look of blank innocence. "She wasn't looking where she was going." Turning to the girl, he added helpfully, "You ought to look out -- there's a step there, miss," and waved at the stair in question.

"I -- but -- y--" The girl shook her head in apparent puzzlement. A little belatedly, her lips thinned. "I worked that one out, thank you."

Crim cleared his throat pointedly; Sora blinked in feigned surprise and glanced back to the man as if in dawning realisation. "What -- hey, you think _I _tripped her? I _told_ you, she fell over the step -- didn't you, miss?" he added, once again rounding on the girl, who despite her mortified protests was now being helped to her feet by Lady Subaru.

"I--" She stared at him for a moment, and then at the step, and then glanced uncertainly at the Lady of the city. Inwardly, Sora grinned; the girl looked far too embarrassed to make any kind of accusation in front of her ruler. Outwardly, he maintained his expression of injured innocence as he waited. "I -- think I must have," she said at last. "Er… I mean, I wasn't really paying attention to where I was going -- uh, look, I'm really sorry to have caused a fuss. I'm fine, honestly; I really ought to be getting back to school…"

Her face burning, she practically fled. Sora waved goodbye to her, and then, still grinning to himself, turned away and followed Lady Subaru into the keep. That had been fun. All in all, this day was definitely looking up.

* * *

All in all, Mimiru thought, the day really couldn't have been much worse. How she could be one of the best in her year at swordplay, and yet seemingly unable to walk across a room (outside of weapons practice) without tripping over her own feet, was a continual mystery to her.

But good grief… to fall down the stairs right in front of the ruler of the city _and _Sir Crim had to be some kind of all-time low. In all honesty, she'd thought -- she could have _sworn _-- that the odd little boy with them had tripped her up as she'd gone past him, but she hadn't quite been able to bring herself to say so. He had looked like he had enough problems to deal with already, with his shabby, tattered clothes, and bruises down the side of his face.

Still -- she'd fallen flat on her face, _in front of Lady Subaru..._

It just topped the day off, really. First she'd overslept, and then she'd had an exam, which she'd completely forgotten about and which had therefore gone very badly, and things hadn't really gotten better from there.

At least _one _thing had gone right, though. The Crimson Knights had at last admitted that they could use all the help they could get in their search for Tsukasa, and she'd been one of the first to volunteer. All right, so her help would most likely amount to very little, but at least she'd be able to say she'd _tried. _It was better than nothing.

A couple of her classmates had been puzzled by her attitude. _"She was always absolutely _rotten _to you. Why're you so eager to help?" _She wished she'd had a good retort to that. She and Tsukasa had never really been friends even at the best of times, and the best of times, such as they had been, were two years gone, now. But--

_I want to help her, because... nobody ever has, I don't think. Because she really doesn't understand why anyone would want to. Because she thinks everyone only cares about themselves, and -- I don't want her to be right._

But she hadn't seemed to be able to find the words to explain that to her fellow students, and so she'd only shrugged and said, "Because somebody ought to."

The uncomfortable thought occurred that wanting to prove Tsukasa wrong wasn't exactly the most selfless of motives. _The ones who say they care... they just want to feel better about themselves, _the young mage had said, once. Wasn't that what she was doing?

She ignored this resolutely. It wasn't the _only _reason she wanted to help, she reassured herself. It would just be a nice bonus.

_Oh, great. For all you know her life could be in danger, but you're here thinking about being able to say 'I told you so.'_

She ignored that, too.

By the time she was back through the school gates, she was so busy trying to keep her own rebellious thoughts under control that once again she failed to pay attention to the people around her, and -- once again -- nearly walked into someone. "Oh -- sorry," she said automatically, not even looking up.

This elicited a short, scornful laugh. "It's been how many years now, and you _still _haven't learned to look where you're going. Why anyone trusts you with a sword in your hands, I don't know."

Mimiru's head jerked up in disbelief at the familiar voice and tone. She stopped, and stared. "T...Ts..._Tsukasa?_"

Sure enough, the silver-haired girl stood there, staring back at her with a look of equal parts dislike and puzzlement, apparently uncertain what to make of this reaction. "Gods, it _is_ you," Mimiru breathed. "You're all right! Where have you _been? _What _happened?_"

This was received with a strange, blank look. "I missed breakfast. I overslept."

An odd, uncomfortable weight settled in Mimiru's stomach, the initial elation at seeing her erstwhile 'friend' safe and sound now fading. "You--"

"I realise," Tsukasa's tone grew sardonic, "that absolutely nobody here can live without me for so much as five minutes, but good grief, Mimiru, from your reaction you'd think I'd disappeared into thin air for a week straight. What's with you?"

"You..." Mimiru's voice trailed off as she searched for words. "You're joking. Tsukasa, that's not funny. Everybody's been worried sick about you."

Tsukasa blinked, and then looked pointedly around at the calm, peaceful scene of a school supposedly on the verge of panic. "Yeah, right," she said vaguely. "I can see that."

"Tsukasa, knock it off, I'm serious. Where in the World have you been? The Crimson Knights have been searching for you for days."

The young mage gave her another puzzled stare. At last, after a long, speechless moment, she sighed. "Fine," she said in weary tones. "I'll bite. Mimiru -- what the _hell _are you talking about?"

* * *

A/N: The next chapter may take a while… my first year of grad school begins in about two weeks, and since I get to kick the semester off with a three-hour exam before classes start (aaugh), studying kinda has to take precedence for the foreseeable future. But I'll get some writing done whenever I have time, I promise.

On another note -- reviews are always welcome. : )


	6. Five: Meetings and Reflections

Disclaimer: .hack and its characters belong to Bandai and CyberConnect 2, and are used here without permission.

A/N: I realise it was several months ago now, but nonetheless, many thanks to those who reviewed the last chapter. Sorry it's taken so long to get this one finished... I'm in my first year of grad school, studying mathematics, and it hasn't left me with much mental energy for fanfiction.

3/22/08: Aargh. Somewhere along the line, the site deleted all the scene breaks in the past three chapters. I'm pretty sure I've replaced them all now, but please let me know if any still appear to be missing.

* * *

Five: _Meetings and Reflections_

* * *

Deep in a forest, somewhere, there was a clearing.

In the center of the clearing was a little girl. In appearance, she was perhaps four or five years old -- and thus it was peculiar that her long, straight hair was pure white. She was sitting comfortably on the ground, her head tilted back to watch the sky.

It was night-time, now. She liked the night; the sky was clear, and there was no moon, so that hundreds, perhaps thousands of stars were visible, sparkling overhead. They were beautiful to watch. She'd been doing little else, in all the time she'd been here -- exactly how long that had been, she was not sure, but it could not have been _too _long, she reasoned, or her father would surely have come looking for her.

That he might already have done so, and failed to find her, never crossed her mind. Her father knew _everything, _she was sure. Whenever it was time for her to go home, he would come to fetch her. Nothing to worry about, in the meantime.

Anyway, at most, she'd been here... perhaps a few hours, she thought vaguely. It could not have been much more, for the sun had been setting when she had first wandered here, down a path lined with red spider lilies, and it had not yet risen again.

It would be rising soon, though. Every night came to an end, eventually -- _everything _came to an end, eventually. The thought made her a little sad; it really was a perfect night. But that was all right; the end of one thing was always the beginning of another, and perhaps then it would be a perfect day, too.

Yes -- dawn would come soon.

Of that, she was sure.

* * *

People. There were always so many _people _around, being noisy and stupid and getting in the way. Tsukasa sat and stared numbly at the infirmary floor as what seemed to be half the school's staff fussed over her, and talked at her, and asked her concerned questions to which she gave little more than monosyllabic answers if she could help it. _Hypocrites. It's not like any of you'd be sorry to see me go -- but the school'd look bad if you started misplacing students, and we wouldn't want _that_, now, would we?_

"And you don't remember _anything?_" The question's tone stopped just short of being accusatory, perhaps, but it was definitely suspicious.

"No." _But if you didn't believe me the first twenty-five times, I doubt you'll start now. Just go away, will you? Leave me alone. I'm tired. _A small thought suggested that it was just possible that she ought to be worried at the gap in her memory, as well as at the fact that she'd apparently been missing for days, but right now she hardly had the energy. She'd think about it later -- after she'd slept for about a year, maybe.

She scarcely heard the ongoing babble of falsely sweet and solicitous words. It was doubtful that anything was being said by now that hadn't already been said a dozen times over, and most of it hadn't been worth listening to the first time. She should have ignored Mimiru -- simply turned around and walked away, before the other girl had succeeded in dragging her off to the headmistress's office. Of course, then they'd have come looking for her...

The one-sided conversation seemed to have come to a halt, at least temporarily. She looked up, and asked listlessly, "So can I go, now?"

"I really don't think that's a good idea, dear. You--"

"Don't call me that," Tsukasa said shortly.

The woman looked considerably taken aback. "I beg your pardon?"

"I'm not your _dear. _You barely know who I am. So don't try to pretend you care -- you're not fooling anybody, you know."

The woman's lips thinned at this. "Miss Shouji, I realise you've... been through a lot, the past few days--"

_And don't call me that, either, _Tsukasa thought. _Shouji _or _Miss. Shouji's my father's name, and I don't want anything to do with it. As for 'Miss'... _Why that particular title didn't quite seem to sit comfortably in her head, she could not in all honesty have said, but she'd never liked it. She didn't waste her breath saying so, however; she doubted the woman would really listen.

"--But there's no call for you to take such a tone. Everyone's been very worried--"

"Oh, yeah," Tsukasa muttered sardonically, before she could stop herself. "Bet the place was just falling apart without me."

"--_And you might consider that, _girl," the woman snapped, ignoring this.

_Well? Even supposing any of you were really worried about anything besides your own precious image, I didn't _ask _you to be. So it's not my problem. _Now, _there _were words that wouldn't go over well, if ever she'd heard any. "Fine. Look -- I'm sorry," she lied wearily, in a toneless voice. "But I'm really tired. And I can't tell you what I don't remember, so there's not much point in me staying here, is there?"

The woman sighed. "Miss Shouji--" Tsukasa's shoulders hunched slightly at the name-- "You vanished days ago without a trace, and nobody knows why or how. You reappeared today, equally inexplicably, despite the fact that a number of very competent Knights have been guarding the school. As I was saying -- if you were listening to a word of it -- none of us feel it would be wise to leave you alone just now. The Knights believe it would be best to take you to stay at the keep for the time -- there are few places better guarded, after all--"

Guarded. Watched. Never left alone. Inwardly, Tsukasa cringed at the thought. It was bad enough at school, and _here _she could get away from people, sometimes -- leave the school grounds, slip through the Gate unnoticed, and spend a peaceful afternoon in the haven of the lost cathedral where no one but she had set foot in, perhaps, hundreds of years --

The hidden cathedral. She--

_**Walk by my side. **_

She'd -- been --

_Darkness had beckoned, and for a long time, perhaps forever, there had been nothing. She had slept, and had not wanted to wake._

_But then there had been dreams, or memories, of the sort that made her want to shrink in on herself and disappear just to make them go away. The sort that waking wouldn't erase, because they'd been _real_, once upon a time. And she had sunk further and further into the empty darkness, trying to escape them, until--_

_--She'd woken. Or thought she had, at the time, but now it was like trying to remember another, much more pleasant dream. Deep enough in the darkness, there had been light..._

And now the Voice, familiar and -- unlike most voices -- much beloved, sounded in her mind with a quiet, kindly laugh. _**You want to get back there? Not to worry. You **_**will.**

Tsukasa's eyes widened. She'd never heard the Voice away from the cathedral before, and the strange sense of a _presence _in her mind had already faded as quickly as it had come. Had she only imagined it?

She became suddenly aware that a voice _outside _her mind had been speaking to her as well. She shook her head, blinking dazedly. "Uh... sorry. What?"

"I said, are you alright, Miss Shouji?" the woman repeated, eyeing her concernedly. "You had a very strange look on your face, for a moment."

"Oh. Nnh." Her spirits, lifted briefly by the memory and the Voice, plummeted sharply once again as she remembered what the woman had been saying. It was all very well for a possibly-imaginary voice in her head to tell her that she would return to the lovely, peaceful, solitary clearing in the darkness, but the strange certainty arose that she would only be able to get back there from the cathedral, and she couldn't get _there _if she was surrounded by Crimson Knights everywhere she went. "Y...yeah."

Her tone was clearly less than reassuring, though, for a fresh note of sympathy entered the woman's voice. Tsukasa noted this warily; she didn't trust sympathy.

"I do realise how frightening all of this must be for you, Miss Shouji."

Tsukasa shrugged indifferently. "I'm not frightened." It was _partly _true; she wasn't afraid of whatever had happened to her, and that was what the woman had meant, after all. Being surrounded by people pretending to be nice to her all the time, now, that was another matter.

The woman seemed uncertain of how to answer this. "...Well," she said at last, uncomfortably. "You're a very brave girl, then."

Tsukasa hunched her shoulders again, turning her head to stare out the window, and muttered, "Whatever."

* * *

Shortly after seeing the accursed creature Sora through the gates of the Crimson Knights' keep, Kamui had taken her leave of her fellow guards. They had not really been sorry to part company with her for the time, and she couldn't say she blamed them; she was ready to strangle _somebody_, and if it couldn't be the demon, it damned well might be someone else.

She'd have liked to go find someplace comfortable, where she could simply keel over and maybe get some sleep. She was exhausted; several days spent running on little other than anger had taken their toll, as she'd known they would. But she had someone to meet, first. Not for the first time, she directed a few heartfelt mental curses at her onetime commander...

_"Sir? What are _you _doing here?"_

_"All in good time, lieutenant. A word with you, please."_

_Well, _Kamui thought resignedly, _at least he's halfway polite to me, now. _She'd been terrified of the man, once upon a time.

_Then again, _she had to admit, if only to herself, _I was kind of an idiot back then. _She shook her head, remembering...

In Fort Ouph and Lia Fail, the Cobalt Knights had grand halls where their mages trained and studied. The magic that the Cobalts used was not normal magic, if any magic could be considered 'normal'. The World, legends said, had long ago been _written _into existence by one of the gods... and if one knew the secrets of such writing, one could change reality.

The Cobalts knew.

Or, at least, they knew in a very limited way. They were mortals, not gods, and they had been self-taught from those few fragments they could find of the original writings. It had taken them a long time to understand anything of it at all, and even now they had only a tiny fraction of the power which their studies might one day grant them. Still, it was more than anyone else had, and they were very careful to see that this remained the case; even the smallest of their secrets was jealously guarded. In the wrong hands, such power could be disastrous.

As a child, Kamui had had some minor facility for spellcasting -- ordinary spellcasting. And, with the optimism of a child, she'd dreamed of joining the Cobalts, furthering their research, learning all the miraculous things they were said to be able to do. There had been so much she'd thought she would be able to change...

Unlike many childhood dreams, this one hadn't faded in a year or two. She'd joined the Knights as soon as she was old enough. They weren't in the habit of teaching sixteen-year-olds to reweave the fabric of reality, funnily enough, but they had an intensive training program for the many hopefuls who came along each year.

Shortly after she joined she'd been told, fairly bluntly, that she didn't have the talent required for their work. She hadn't been the only one, by any means; most of the others had been dismissed from the Knights entirely. But she, in all honesty, had not had anywhere else to go. She'd joined against the wishes of her family, and had left after a very noisy row, and she'd been too stubborn to slink sheepishly home and admit they'd been right.

So, she'd more or less begged her superiors to give her another chance. They'd eventually agreed, but it hadn't been the chance she'd wanted. She'd _wanted_ another shot at becoming a mage.

Instead she'd been assigned to train in combat. Possibly they'd felt that her sheer bloody-minded persistence would serve her better, there. In retrospect, they'd been right, but at the time she had not been very happy about this. She'd been a frankly dismal student at first, not for any lack of ability, but simply because she hadn't cared.

And then she'd met Albireo Watarai. He had grumbled about it rather a lot, but High Command had insisted that he take on a few new trainees every so often, and somehow, Kamui had been one of the lucky -- or unlucky -- few.

Again, in retrospect, he probably wouldn't have wasted his attention on her at all if he hadn't thought she was worth it. At the time, however, it hadn't exactly seemed that way. Albireo had not had a lot of patience for self-pity. Or stupidity. Or... well... just about anything, really. So it had seemed, at least; Kamui had spent a lot of time trying to avoid him, over the first few months, once to the point of hiding behind a suit of armor when she'd seen him walking down a hall.

Eventually she'd realised that he was, in his way, a very patient person, and that if she didn't start putting a little more effort into her work, he really did intend to keep making her life miserable pretty much indefinitely. Kamui had always been stubborn, but she'd reluctantly had to conclude that maybe she wasn't quite _that _stubborn.

_Soppy life lesson goes here, I suppose, _she thought sardonically, remembering. But things _had _gotten better, once she'd finally stopped sulking about the talents she didn't have and instead started focusing on improving the ones she did. For a time, life had actually been... good.

And then, almost three years ago now... something had gone wrong. They'd met a demon, who had gotten away, and Albireo had gone hunting the thing alone. He'd caught it, but -- he hadn't been the same, afterwards.

It had been a shock, running into him in Mac Anu, when she'd been thinking of him only a short time earlier -- remembering what happened to those fooled into thinking a monster was human.

* * *

A wave of almost giddy relief had struck Sora upon his discovery that he was not, in fact, about to die, but it had washed away now, leaving only exhaustion in its wake. Lady Subaru was saying something; she was probably talking to him, but he barely heard the words as he stared down at his (tragically near-empty) bowl of stew.

_So. Let's sum up the last few days, here. _

_Met a dragon. It stole all my money and tried to eat me._

_Met some Cobalt Knights. Got in a fight. (They started it. Sort of.) Killed one of them. Got arrested, beaten, chained to a wall, ekcetra_(1)_... bad day all around. Thought they were going to burn me at the stake._

_Somehow ended up on a two-day forced march to Mac Anu. Got handed over to the Crimsons. Who, um, should have plenty of reasons not to like me very much._

_And what_ _are they doing?_

_Giving me lunch. _

_Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining, It's a _good _lunch. I'm not really sure what's in this stew, but I'm pretty sure it's the best whatever-it-is I've ever tasted. _

_I'm just saying I'm not entirely sure that my brain's caught up yet. I thought it had, earlier, but I think somewhere along the line it just stopped moving and fell over. So if you've got to ask me all these stupid questions, d'you suppose it could wait until after I've gotten some rest? I haven't got any good lies ready right now, and for once, I really think I'm too tired to improvise._

Gradually, he became aware that Subaru had stopped speaking and was looking at him as if expecting him to answer. He hesitated for a moment, trying to remember and piece together the half-heard fragments of her question, but finally gave up. Wearily, he shook his head, grimacing. "Sorry, m'lady. I, uh... it's been a really long week. What'd you just say, again?" Inwardly, a part of him groaned at the current sluggishness of his thoughts; another part, though, said, _Y'know, it's probably just as well. If you were _awake,_ you'd be playing up the pitiful, half-dead-on-your-feet, lost-little-kid act anyway. As is, you don't actually have to act very much, not for the half-dead piece._

Subaru smiled gently. "I was only saying that I know you've been through a lot over the past few days, Sora. There's obviously a... lot that needs to be sorted out, but I think perhaps it can wait until you've gotten some sleep. As soon as you've finished eating, I can have someone show you to a guest room, if you'd like?"

He blinked owlishly as this sank in. "Oh," he said at last, vaguely. "Um... yeah. That'd be, uh, that'd be great. Thanks."

That bit of his brain which had approved of his current fatigue suggested that this might, from a theatrical standpoint, be a good time to look away, and that maybe throwing in a few surreptitious but audible sniffling noises wouldn't be a bad idea, either. So he did. Only for appearances' sake; he could count on one hand the number of times in his life that he remembered crying over _anything_, and he wasn't about to start now, just because he'd gotten some scrapes and bruises and missed a few nights' sleep.

But the frightened little kid that he was _supposed _to be, who'd just barely escaped a horrific (and, of course, thoroughly undeserved) death... well, he'd almost surely be trying not to cry at this point, and would look all the braver for managing it. And indeed, when Sora darted a glance towards her, the Lady's brow was creased in nervous concern.

"A-are you all right?" she asked softly.

He resisted the urge to let his head fall forward into his hands. He even -- barely -- stopped himself from rolling his eyes. _How much detail about the last few days of my life do you _need, _Lady? Good grief. What do _you _think? _In his effort to keep this comment to himself, he sank his teeth into the inside of his lower lip with such force that after a couple of seconds he tasted blood. _Ow. Stupid, stupid._

When at last he trusted himself to sound halfway polite, he nodded, and mumbled, "'M fine. It's, uh..." He sniffed again, and rubbed at his nose with a self-conscious air which was, he considered, probably quite convincing, if he _did _say so himself. "'S been a... long day, milady."

Crim, Sora realised, was by now giving him a look that clearly said, _You couldn't have acted like this for the _last _two days? _The boy hesitated, but then thought resignedly, _He could be trouble, you know. Better be nice to him, too. For now._

"S-Sir Crim?" The title stuck in his throat. _Little kid. Frightened, pathetic little kid. Remember? _That's _what you're going to be, if you want to get out of here alive. Right now, you're in no shape to deal with the consequences of annoying somebody like him -- well, any more than you already have. _"I -- I'm s...sorry--" _That _is _how you pronounce that word, is it? I use it so rarely. _"--For all the t-trouble I caused you, on the way here..."

"Yeah, well," Crim said gruffly. "This once, consider it forgotten. You had no way of knowing I was on your side." After a brief pause, he added, "Besides, Kamui didn't help matters, and _she _should have known better. But jeez, kiddo, be a little more careful, yeah? I thought you'd get yourself killed before we got anywhere near Mac Anu."

Sora made a face. "Th...thought the Crimsons were going to be worse than the Cobalts, sir, and when you figure what _they _wanted to do to me--" He swallowed, and added in a smaller voice, "Well, getting strangled by Kamui kinda seemed like the better deal."

"Ah," Crim said quietly.

"S-till..." Sora hunched his shoulders with a calculated awkwardness of which he was rather proud, when he stopped to think about it. "S...sorry, sir." _Wow. That's, what, twice in five minutes I've said that? I _do _get some kind of prize for this, right?_

_...Yep. It's called _staying alive, _moron._

_What, no money? Bo-ring._

_Well, hey. You play this right, you never know. Lady Subaru said something earlier about trying to find a spot for you in one of the city schools -- and if she seriously thinks _that's _a good idea, then she's dumb enough to buy just about anything._

Right. So. Get some rest, get back on his feet, and _then _get around to swindling the Lady of the city out of as much money as humanly (or half-demonically) possible.

Sounded good to him.

First things first, though. Right now, he could really do with another bowl of stew.

* * *

By the end of the meal, Sora had practically been asleep at the table -- and who could blame him, Subaru thought, from what Crim had said of the last few days? Good grief, _Crim _had looked nearly ready to fall over, he'd only had to get the boy to safety. He'd not actually said very much on the subject yet, but Subaru knew the Cobalt Knights could be less than easy to deal with.

...Well. Crim was a grown man; he could presumably take care of himself. Sora was clearly another matter, and so Subaru had sent a servant to see him comfortably settled in one of the keep's guest rooms. At Crim's insistence, two knights had accompanied them, having been quietly instructed to stand guard outside the boy's door. Subaru had questioned the necessity of this; it wasn't as if Sora was a prisoner, and he _was _only a child, but Crim had shaken his head wearily.

_"He's a _demon_-child, Subaru. A tired and presumably very scared demon-child, and his first reaction to fear is _not_ to go hide his head under a blanket, it's to pick a fight with somebody." He winced slightly. "Trust me on this. We're not talking about your basic childhood tantrum, here. We're talking about somebody getting killed."_

_"Surely you don't think he would--"_

_"What I _think _is that it's been a long couple of days for all concerned, and right now I wouldn't trust him not to... overreact. Charity's one thing. Completely abandoning good sense is another."_

_Her face coloured. "I try not to make a habit of that, thank you," she said stiffly. "But the advice is appreciated."_

_"I--" His mouth opened, then shut again, and he drew a deep breath. "I'm... sorry. I meant _me _abandoning sense, not you. You haven't spent the last two days traveling with the kid; you weren't to know."_

She had thought this a rather half-hearted excuse, but she had bitten back the brief impulse to argue. Crim might still talk, sometimes, as if she were a child, but that was poor reason to start squabbling like one. _Anyway, you know he doesn't mean it that way. Not really._

_...Well, he _doesn't, _does he?_

At any rate, the conversation had ended there.

And now, there were other people to whom she had to see...

It was good, certainly, that the Shouji girl had reappeared. By all accounts, though, the girl herself wasn't very happy about it. In fact, by all accounts, she was rarely very happy about anything.

Subaru really wasn't sure what, in the face of a total unwillingness to communicate, she herself could expect to accomplish. She felt, though, that she ought to make some effort. Tsukasa had been brought to the keep a few hours ago; it was simply to give the Knights a better chance at guarding her, since she had reappeared at her school practically under their noses and yet they had managed to miss it, but still, it made her a guest of sorts. And certainly, given their total failure to protect her from whatever had happened, they owed her something. She had to be frightened, in the circumstances; perhaps, at the very least, it would put her a little more at ease to talk to a girl relatively near her own age.

_Probably not, _Subaru thought ruefully, _but face it -- I'm looking for any chance to feel a little less... _useless. _It isn't as if I even _know _how to talk to anyone near my own age. The Knights, yes. Servants, yes. Off-plane diplomats and nobility and so on, yes. And councils, and committees, and all sorts of officials..._

_Teenagers are another matter. Crim did used to say I ought to get out more..._

Steeling herself, she nodded to the guard outside Tsukasa's room. He bowed to her, and hastened to open the door.

She ventured inside with trepidation. Two knights, both female, were stationed inside the door as well; they were taking as few chances as possible. That might be necessary, Subaru reflected, troubled, but it might not be helping Tsukasa's frame of mind very much.

Tsukasa herself was sitting on her bed, hugging her knees to her chest and staring out of one of the room's narrow windows. She had not so much as turned her head at the Lady's entrance, and Subaru hesitated, uncertain of how best to announce her presence.

One of the girl's guards cleared her throat and attempted to help "Milady Subaru, this is miss Tsukasa Shouji. Miss Shouji," she added pointedly, "Lady Subaru Misono -- ruler of Mac Anu -- is here. To see you."

The girl hunched her shoulders, and, still not looking around, muttered, "Make her go away."

"This is the _Lady Subaru _you're--" the Knight began in scandalised tones, but Subaru shook her head, holding up a restraining hand.

"Would you step outside for a few minutes, please? I should like to speak to miss Shouji, and I expect she would prefer some semblance of privacy."

"Milady--"

Subaru drew herself up to her full height, wishing, not for the first time, that it was a slightly more imposing height. Still, being ruler of the city had to count for something. "Leave us, please," she repeated, politely but in a tone which, she hoped, brooked no argument.

The guard opened her mouth again, but clearly thought better of it, and inclined her head reluctantly. "As you wish, milady."

When the two guards had gone, Subaru took a few steps towards Tsukasa. "May I sit?"

"Do as you like." The younger girl's voice was barely audible.

Subaru sighed, and settled herself in a chair by the bed. "Everyone's been very worried about you the past few days."

"So I've heard." The tone of the words was unmistakably sardonic.

"Miss Shouji," Subaru began gently, but Tsukasa stiffened as if struck.

"Don't call me that."

"I -- I beg your pardon?" Subaru asked, taken aback.

"Shouji," the girl mumbled, her voice once again barely on the edge of hearing. "_Or--_" But she stopped short, and though she had not been looking at Subaru to begin with, nonetheless she turned her head a little further away. "Just... don't," she said eventually. "_Milady._"

"May I ask why not?" Subaru asked mildly.

To her surprise, the younger girl actually turned almost to face her, and one corner of her mouth twisted upwards slightly. "You can _ask. _But--" The brief flash of humour faded as quickly as it had appeared, and she hugged her knees a little more closely to her chest. "There's not much to say about it," she went on tonelessly. "I just... don't like to be called that."

Well, there were certainly more important things to worry about, Subaru thought. "Shall I just call you Tsukasa, then?"

The girl glanced at her, her eyes widening slightly, perhaps in surprise at the lack of argument. Her mouth opened, but she closed it again soundlessly, and only gave a brief, stiff nod.

Subaru smiled. "All right. Tsukasa -- I'm really not here to argue with you. I only -- I was very glad to learn that you were alive and well, and I wanted to--"

She hesitated, briefly. _Why _am _I here, really? Except in some effort to make myself feel that I'm doing something halfway useful..._

Tsukasa did not miss the hesitation. "To what?" she asked sharply. "Come and stare at me like I'm some sort of curiosity in an museum?"

"No!" Subaru protested, hurt. After a moment, she asked, more quietly, "Is that really what you think?"

"Nnh." Tsukasa shrugged, resting her chin on her knees and staring at the bedspread. Subaru waited, but the girl did not elaborate further.

Swallowing a little uneasily, the Lady of Mac Anu persisted, "I only -- wanted to talk to you. To see if -- if there was anything you needed, if there was anything I could do."

This received no response, and Subaru added, uncertainly, "I thought -- I thought you might like to talk to someone, after all you've been through."

The younger girl raised her head and subjected the Lady to a long, blank stare. Eventually she said, tonelessly, "I like your dress. You look nice."

"What?" Subaru blinked in puzzlement, taken aback. "I -- thank you..."

"There you go." The girl looked away again, her voice still flat and expressionless. "I've talked to you. Happy?"

"I--" Subaru sighed. "I didn't mean you had to talk me if you don't want to, Tsukasa. Of course you don't But if, for instance, there's anyone you'd rather see..." She brightened slightly as she recalled one of the original reasons for her visit. "Your friend Mimiru has been asking after you, you know."

Tsukasa said nothing, but only drew her knees a little more closely to her chest.

"She's been very worried," the Lady persisted gently. "She was one of the first to volunteer to help search for you."

This brought a quiet, humourless laugh from the younger girl. "I'll bet she was, yes."

Uncertain what to make of this, Subaru said only, "She would very much like to come and see you, if she may."

Tsukasa was silent for a moment before echoing, in a strangely blank tone, "If she may." She paused, and then muttered, still not looking at Subaru, "Do I have a choice?"

Subaru suppressed another troubled sigh; she didn't want to put pressure on the girl, who was already too wary of her intentions. "Of course," she said quietly.

Now Tsukasa looked at her, and asked bluntly, in the same dull, empty tone, "But I haven't got a choice about you being here?"

"Do you want me to leave that much?"

Tsukasa rested her chin on her knees once more, her gaze drifting back to her feet. "Yeah."

_No sense in pressuring her... and the mere fact of my presence is doing that, it seems. _Rising to her feet, Subaru said simply, "Then I'll leave." _I mean you no harm -- please see that. _Someone would have to ask the girl questions, sooner or later, but it was obvious they'd get no answers if they tried now. Perhaps, given a day or two of rest in the solitude she seemed to crave, Tsukasa might be more willing to speak.

Nonetheless, she made a final, hesitant effort. "I do realise how fr--"

"Frightening this all must be for me," Tsukasa finished in a weary sing-song. "Haven't heard _that _twenty times already today. Anyway," her shoulders hunched defensively, "It's not, really."

"What? But--"

"I don't like it here. I don't like the school, I don't like the city, I don't like the people. So why should I care if I've been gone from it all? And not being able to remember..." She shrugged. "There's lots I wouldn't like to remember, if I could help it. So it doesn't bother me."

"But--"

"I thought," Tsukasa interrupted, her voice once again a monotone, "you were leaving. _Milady._"

Subaru closed her eyes for a moment before nodding, and said, a little more stiffly than she had intended, "I apologise for the intrusion."

And she left.

* * *

In the hidden clearing, the little girl lay back on the soft grass, folding her hands behind her head as a pillow of sorts. The stars were pretty, but she _had _been watching them for a long while, and she was starting to find that she was growing tired of it. And starting to grow tired in general, really. It was suddenly seeming a very long time since she had last slept.

Well... there would be other nights for star-watching.

Slowly, her eyes drifted shut, and a few seconds later, she was asleep.

* * *

Notes:

(1) I know it's _et cetera, _not ekcetra, but Sora insists on saying the latter. (shrug) Whether he really thinks it's pronounced that way, or just does it to annoy, I'm not entirely sure.

A/N: Well, there you go. (falls over) I can't say this is my favorite chapter ever, but I figured if I didn't get something posted now I probably never would. I'm on spring break at the moment, so I actually have a little time to get some writing done. Turns out, grad school and teaching assistantships are a lot of work. Sheesh, who'd've thought?

Anyway, hope you enjoyed. Reviews would be much appreciated; please feel free to point out mistakes, etc. I wish I could say the next chapter'll be up soon, but frankly the odds of that are probably infinitesimal. I've only got six-ish more weeks of school after spring break, though, so hopefully I'll be able to focus on getting some serious writing done after that.


	7. Six: Guests at the Keep

Disclaimer: .hack and its characters belong to Bandai and CyberConnect 2, and are used here without permission.

A/N: Must get this out of my system:

_BloodyhellIwonafanfictioncontest!!_

(cough) So… yeah. If you didn't see the notes I put in the summary or my profile (I'm pretty much mentioning this every chance I get (sweatdrop)), _Lost Ground _won the AU/Divergence category in this year's Maximum Challenge Fan Fiction Contest over at Mediaminer. I'm kind of moderately psyched about it. (This is an understatement.) Some really awesome fics were entered; there is a link in my profile to a list of all the category winners and runners-up, so go check them out.

On another note, many thanks to Hahligirl56 for her review last chapter!

* * *

Six:_ Guests at the Keep_

* * *

For a long while after Subaru left, Tsukasa sat staring dully out the window. _I don't want to be here. I don't want to be here. Make it go away. I don't want to be here._

She shut her eyes, trying to remember the Voice's words.

_You want to get back there? You will_.

_Now_, she thought bitterly, _would be good. _Aloud, though barely audible, she whispered, "Get me out of here."

But there was no response. Not that she'd expected one; she wasn't even sure, after all, that she was talking to anything more than a unusually vivid figment of her imagination.

A small, detached thought suggested that she should probably be a little worried about talking to voices in her head, although it went on to add that compared to everything else that was presently going on, that was probably a very minor worry. She ignored it; she didn't have the energy to think about anything very much, just now.

And so she stayed sitting, motionless, on her bed, staring at clouds through the window. Not watching them -- watching would have required more focus than she presently felt she could muster -- but staring, unseeing, in their general direction, as words echoed over and over in her head.

_I don't want to be here. Get me out of here. I don't want to be here. I hate this. I don't want to be_ _here…_

Unseen and unheard, _someone _watched, and listened, and smiled.

* * *

Inside the entrance to the keep, Mimiru sank onto a stone bench and buried her face in her hands. _Gods, if Tsukasa didn't hate me before, she must now. _

_"What the _hell _are you talking_ _about?"_

For a few seconds, she had only been able to gape stupidly at the young mage. It was not until Tsukasa had rolled her eyes and turned away, shaking her head in scorn at the reaction, that Mimiru had found her voice. Even then, it had been a little shaky.

_"T-Tsukasa, wait. You -- you -- you seriously don't _know? _You don't remember?"_

_The other girl did not stop, but only tossed over her shoulder, "Full marks for observation." _

_Mimiru hurried after her. "Tsukasa, listen, this is serious. _I'm _serious. You -- you disappeared, days ago. The Crimson Knights have practically been turning the whole plane inside out, trying to find you. If -- if you really don't remember, this must sound completely crazy, I know, but I swear it's true."_

_Tsukasa made no response, but started to walk a little more quickly. Without thinking, Mimiru reached out, put a hand on her arm. "Tsukasa, will you _listen_--"_

Mimiru shut her eyes as the scene replayed in her head. _Damnit, I was only trying to help. Everybody's been worried sick about her. Would it _kill _her to act, for five seconds, like she actually cares about all the trouble her vanishing act caused? Gods, she is such a -- such a selfish little twit, sometimes…._

She looked up as she heard the footsteps approach, and was not surprised to see Lady Subaru round the corner a few seconds later. The footsteps were far too light and soft for the confident stride of a Knight on duty; by contrast, they sounded as if the Lady hesitated even to disturb the air of the keep over which she ruled.

Belatedly, Mimiru hopped to her feet, inclining her head in a slightly awkward bow. "Mi-milady."

"Miss Mimiru." Subaru's voice was as quiet and shy as her tread, and despite her minor awe at being in the presence of nobility (_without _tripping over her own feet this time, thank any Gods), Mimiru found a part of her mind thinking, ruefully, _From up close, it's kind of hard to believe she rules the entire plane, isn't it?_

She stifled the thought firmly as Subaru went on, "I have just been to speak to your friend."

"Tsukasa?" Mimiru grimaced, thinking a little guiltily of her mental tirade a few moments earlier. "Friend, uh,might not be _exactly _the word I'd use, but…" She shrugged, abandoning that thought, and said instead, "I barely got to see her at school, after the headmistress got hold of her. Is, uh -- is she all right?"

Subaru's brow creased. "I understand she is in good health, but she does not seem to be in such good spirits." She shook her head, a troubled expression crossing her face. "I am sorry; I asked if you might see her, but she was very adamant that any visitors would be unwelcome. As I was clearly included in that, I did not like to press the issue much. Perhaps in a few days she will be feeling better."

"Oh, I don't know," Mimiru muttered, making a face. "Sounds like she's right back to her old self." Realising she had said this aloud, she went red, and quickly amended, "Uh -- sorry, milady. It's just, um…" Unable to find words to express the sheer aggravation that was Tsukasa Shouji, she shrugged helplessly, shaking her head. "She's… kind of difficult to get along with, sometimes."

"So I have been told," Subaru said gently, no reproof in her voice. "Still, I understand you are one of few who have made the effort."

Mimiru had to admit that in the circumstances, this was self-evident; she was the only one of Tsukasa's classmates present, after all, and most students in such a strange and disturbing situation would have attracted at least a handful of concerned friends and well-wishers. Nonetheless, she found herself a little embarrassed by the minor recognition, and stammered a half-hearted denial.

Subaru said nothing to this. Instead she continued, "So I should like to ask you for a small favour, if I may."

Mimiru blinked. "Um." _A favour for the ruler of the plane? _"Uh… wh… s… um… sure. I mean, uh -- yes, Milady?"

Subaru smiled, and spoke hesitantly. "I only wanted to ask -- I do not think Tsukasa trusts anyone here, very much. From what you have said I understand that you do not think she trusts you, either, but -- you are, at least, a familiar face to her, and I -- wondered if you would stay at the Keep for a day or two. I realise you would be missing school, but if she does find she wants company, someone to talk to, I think it would be best if someone she knew was present. Would you mind? There are plenty of guest rooms."

Mimiru paused, considering this. That Tsukasa would decide she wanted company, she felt, was very, very improbable. That Tsukasa would decide she wanted _Mimiru's _company -- that was probably best categorised under _When the sun rises on Gadelica City._

Both of these, however, seemed downright likely when compared to the chances that she would be invited to stay, as a guest, at the Keep of the Crimson Knights ever again. And this place had to be a step up from school dormitories.

Grinning at the Lady of Mac Anu, she said brightly, "No problem!"

* * *

The afternoon wore on into evening, and the sun sank beyond the city walls, bathing the Keep in reds and oranges. For a time, the melancholy glow spilled into a small training yard Edgeward of the central keep. The yard was empty at this hour, save for two people.

One was a small, slender figure, clad in loose white pants and a pale blue shirt, her turquoise hair pulled neatly back from her face. She was holding a short, plain wooden staff, and proceeding slowly through the motions of a training form, blocking and striking at imaginary opponents who had been carefully choreographed to move at one-tenth speed. Her movements were graceful enough, but her lone spectator, currently sitting unnoticed in a shadowed corner of the yard, thought that they were a little too controlled, a little too hesitant. The form was not a difficult one, and should, with plenty of practice and good teaching, have flowed with ease.

Subaru turned, beginning to raise the weapon to head-height as if to ward off an invisible blow -- and froze, realising at last that she was being watched. After a long, uncertain moment, she drew herself up to a normal standing posture, lowering the staff to the ground. "Crim," she said, her voice quiet and neutral. "I apologise -- I did not realise I had company."

Inwardly, Crim shook his head in disappointment. _Stopping for the slightest distraction? I didn't teach you that, Lady_. But he doubted the criticism would be welcome, or heard. So he shrugged, and said only, "I was passing by, out for a walk, and saw you. Hope you don't mind." Before she could say whether she minded or not, he added, "What happened to your father's battle-axe?"

Subaru's face flushed slightly, and she glanced down at her thin arms. "Children can be unreasonable about things, but I did realize, eventually, that it would always be too heavy for me to lift."

"Fair enough," Crim agreed amiably. "What happened to yours, then? I know that one was light enough for you."

She bit at her lip for a moment before saying, rather stiffly, "Ginkan thought it unsafe for me to be practicing with it."

_Safer than getting into a battle and _not _knowing how to use the damn thing? _But again, some things were best unsaid. "I'm… glad to know he cares for your well-being."

An odd look flickered in Subaru's eyes for a moment, but her face remained unreadable. "He is very reliable," she said levelly. "I have been lucky to have him working for me, these past few years."

_In other words, he doesn't pick up and go chasing off after the open road with no warning, _Crim's thoughts supplied, and then ruefully added, _Well, again: fair enough. _"Good to hear."

There was a long pause before he asked, mildly, "So some of your Knights saw Sora safely to a guest room?"

Subaru nodded stiffly. "He is under guard."

"Good. Thank you." Crim made a face. "Beats me if I know what to do with the damn kid, though."

"As I said earlier--"

"Mac Anu can always find places for homeless children in its boarding schools." Crim rubbed wearily at his forehead. "Yeah. I'm… not convinced that's a good idea, in this instance."

The Lady of the city tilted her head to one side, doubt in her eyes. "He didn't seem such a bad child."

Crim hesitated, wondering if there was a tactful way to answer this honestly. If there was, however, he couldn't find it. "He killed one of the Cobalts who attacked him," he said bluntly. "Injured a couple more. And there were a _lot_ of them."

Subaru's eyes widened; this, she clearly had not expected. "He's only a child."

"Yeah, well." Crim shrugged ruefully, thinking back over the last couple of days. "A ten year old demon-kin is still demon-kin, and he's a hell of a fighter, I'll give him that. I wasn't kidding, earlier, when I said he needed guards. Look--" The man sighed. "Under the circumstances -- any half-demon in their right mind would fight, if they were cornered by Cobalts. Not much chance of survival otherwise. So, personally, I can't fault him for that, but that doesn't mean I _trust _him, either."

"I see." Subaru did not quite frown, but there was the hint of a frown in her eyes. "I did not realise the situation was quite so… complicated."

Crim grimaced. "Mm, well. Helping him out seemed like a good idea at the time."

"You couldn't have left him to the Cobalts, of course," she said flatly.

_Yeah… _you _try traveling with the little idiot for a couple days, and see how you feel on that score._ Crim kept this thought to himself.

"You are sure he has no family?" Subaru asked.

"None that he'll talk about. Claims he never met his parents."

Now she did frown, albeit barely. "He must have had a very difficult life."

"He's good enough at making life difficult for other people," Crim muttered.

Subaru ignored this. "If he is not to be put in school, though, I do not know that there is much Mac Anu can do for him. I dislike saying so, but…"

_But the city has its system, and doesn't work outside it very well, _Crim supplied mentally.

"Perhaps… perhaps with proper… precautions, safeguards," she ventured a moment later, "he would not be such a danger? Some of the academies, for instance, have many well-trained magi among their teachers and staff, and some warriors as well; surely, if someone kept a close eye on him, they could deal with any -- problems he might cause? Or try to cause," she added. "I am sure they have all dealt with... troubled students before."

"Maybe," Crim said noncommittally. He had a bad feeling about it, but it was probably that or try to drag the kid off to some other city, and see if _they _could deal with him, and that didn't really look like a better option.

As much to buy himself time to think it over as from actual fatigue, he yawned. "But how 'bout we discuss it tomorrow, huh? He's not the only one who just had a long journey."

Subaru inclined her head politely, but when she spoke, the stiff, level neutrality had returned to her tone. "Of course. You are welcome to stay in the Keep for the night--"

He waved this away. "No need," he said shortly. "I'll go find a room at the Haven."

Her lips thinned very slightly, but she said only, "Then I shall see you on the morrow, Sir Crim."

He bowed, and left.

* * *

She was running barefoot through a forest, as fast as she could, and laughing.

_Bet you can't catch me! _

She couldn't remember the last time she'd laughed like this, not in bitterness or cynicism at the stupidity of the world, but in sheer exhilaration, at movement for the sake of movement. And right now, she wasn't going to try to remember. The cold, fresh air felt good on her face, as early morning sunlight filtered down through new leaves and dappled the forest floor with shadows. It was a perfect moment, and not one to be spoiled by thinking about anything.

A light, childish voice, tinged with laughter of its own, sounded behind her, and she glanced back over her shoulder. A little girl with white hair was running after her, and Tsukasa remembered: they'd been playing tag. Feeling slightly chagrined -- it didn't do to go running so fast when you were playing with someone half your size, but she'd got caught in the moment -- she slowed to a jog. "There you are," she called back, grinning. "Thought I'd lost you."

The girl beamed. In a blink, she was beside Tsukasa, and whacked her on the arm, although not very hard. "You're _it_!"

And then she was racing away again, giggling cheerfully. Tsukasa waited for a moment to give her a head start (and, admittedly, to catch her breath. )

When the girl had disappeared among the trees, Tsukasa started after her, dodging leaves and branches that suddenly seemed far more determined to get in her way than they had a few minutes ago. She ran around the edge of a dark thicket of some unidentifiable, thorny plants --

--And stopped, staring at the brilliant river of red which met her eyes.

She had found herself on a shadowed path, in a wood which had abruptly grown much darker. But the lack of light was almost made up for by the path's carpet of bright red flowers, which grew so thick together that they completely hid the ground. In the distance, the little girl in white stood quietly amidst the blaze of colour and stared back at her, all traces of merriment gone from her demeanour.

Tsukasa glanced down at her feet. The flowers were spider lilies, their blossoms as intricate as they were bright.

_They're poisonous, you know, _a thought whispered, but she barely heard it, and she walked forward as if drawn by an invisible cord.

The little girl waited patiently, the game forgotten, until at last Tsukasa reached her side. And then she looked up at Tsukasa, scrutinizing the young mage's face, her clear blue eyes unreadable. Very quietly, she said, "Why did you bring me here?"

Tsukasa blinked. "I… don't understand. I was following you."

"Were you?" The ghost of a smile graced the girl's face, and she turned to stare along the red path. Something in her expression suddenly looked much older than her apparent four or five years. "You know, they say when you see someone you'll never see again, spider lilies--" (1)

--And Tsukasa woke, to darkness lit only by the wan moonlight that filtered in through the small window of her room.

For a moment she was disoriented by the abrupt awakening, the forest and the little girl in white still vivid in her mind. It hadn't felt like a dream -- and that was normal enough for dreams while they were going on, perhaps, but not so much after they ended. Dreams faded quickly upon awakening, she knew from bitter experience.

But then -- it hadn't actually felt like awakening, either. It just felt like she'd been there, and then, without preamble, had been _here _instead.

Not that it mattered much what it _felt _like, she thought. What mattered was what _was_: in this case, that she was lying in bed with a blanket pulled over top of her, and it was the middle of the night, and any fool in the World could have put two and two together to determine that she had just woken up from a dream.

So… it had been a dream.

A strange, hollow ache crept across her at that certainty. The river of lilies had been very beautiful, in a strange, mournful way, and the bright morning woods that had come before it--

She shut her eyes, trying not to think of what joy had felt like. It was entirely too painful.

_They say when you see someone you'll never meet again--_

The young mage was so lost in her thoughts that when a quiet, muffled _thud _sounded from somewhere not far away, she barely heard it. It was only several seconds later that the sound actually registered, bringing her back to reality. She opened her eyes, but could see nothing in the shadows.

A cautious search of the small table by her bed found a candle, but though she knew there were matches somewhere, they eluded her questing hand. She could try to light the candle with a spell, but that was a risky business; fire magic was not her strongest suit, and she did not think she trusted herself not to set the bedclothes alight. Light magic was a safer proposition.

She closed her eyes again and this time focused, seeking, in her head, the ripples of the Wave which ran through everything. Speaking the right words was only part of spellcasting; you had to know exactly what and how to be thinking, at the time you spoke…

Under her breath, she whispered, "_Rai Kan._"(2)

A ball of silvery light flickered into life over the palm of her outstretched hand, and one corner of her mouth twisted upwards. In all honesty, light magic was not her strong point either; the magi at her school said that earth was her born element. But she could manage this much, at least, without difficulty.

She glanced around the room. The light was not very bright, but it did reach to every corner, if only barely.

There was no one there.

_No one? _She frowned as, belatedly, she remembered. There had been two guards inside the door. As if it hadn't been bad enough that the Knights had locked her up, they wouldn't even give her solitude.

Their absence was not unwelcome, certainly, but it was… strange.

Swinging her legs over the edge of the bed, she stood up, and took a step towards the door.

And stopped, as the light reached what it had missed before: Two figures crumpled on the floor by the wall, completely motionless.

Words rang in her head, and her heart skipped a beat -- but they were not spoken by the familiar, comforting voice of the cathedral. This was a strange, sly voice, and spoke laughingly; for a moment the laughter reminded Tsukasa, incongruously, of the cheerful game of tag in the woods.

_My sincerest apologies, Tsukasa-Who-Doesn't-Like-To-Be-Called-Miss, for my belated arrival. But nonetheless -- I do believe you called. And I do believe I've answered! So:_

_What do you say? Ready to get out of here?_

* * *

Notes:

(1) In _A.I. Buster 2_, Hokuto tells Albireo, "They say that when you see someone that you'll never meet again, spider lilies carpet the path in red." I'm assuming this came from somewhere other than .hack, originally, but I haven't been able to find out where. Anyone happen to know?

(2) No, this isn't a spell from the games, but I needed a name for a light spell that just lit up, without frying, zapping, or otherwise doing damage to anything.

* * *

A/N: Originally, a lot more was going to happen in this chapter, but then I realised that if everything happened that was supposed to happen, the chapter would be well upwards of 6,000 words, and that's getting to be a bit long even for me. So I chopped it roughly in half.

Good news is, the next chapter's planned out, and partially written already. I'm shooting to have it up within a couple weeks, though I make no promises.

Anyway, as always: Loved it, hated it, or anything in between? Review!! (That was supposed to be followed by five exclamation marks, not two, so that I could go on to make a semi-obscure reference to one of my favorite series. But the site won't let me do more than two exclamation marks... (grumble) Oh well. Bonus points for anybody who knows what the joke _would _have been.)


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